The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine will today (Wednesday, January 18) resume discussions on the EU Nature Restoration Law.
The proposed legislation would set specific and legally binding targets for nature restoration across at least 20% of the EU’s land area by 2030.
This would include agricultural land, forestry and marine locations.
Concerns have been raised by farming organisations that if the EU regulation is implemented in its current form it will “sterilise” many family farms and undermine the rural economy.
The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said that based on the Teagasc estimate of 450,000ha of drained peatland under agricultural use, over 135,000ha would need to be restored to satisfactory levels, including the rewetting of 34,000ha by 2030.
Committee
This afternoon, the Oireachtas committee is due to be hear from a representative of the European Commission.
Humberto Delgado Rosa from the commission’s Directorate-General for Environment works in areas such as biodiversity, land use, and nature conservation.
The meeting will take place at 4:30p.m in Committee Room 4 of Leinster House.
Speaking in advance of the meeting, cathaoirleach of the committee, Deputy Jackie Cahill said:
“There would be serious concerns about the amount of land that is to be impacted by this proposal.
“According to the European Commission, this proposal aims to enable the EU to act with urgency and to start restoring ecosystems based on binding targets and obligations that can already be measured and monitored.
“The commission states that this will ensure that member states can start restoration work without delay and paves the way for a broad range of ecosystems in the EU to be restored and maintained by 2050, with measurable results by 2030 and 2040,” he said.
Concerns
Deputy Cahill said that the Oireachtas committee previously heard concerns raised by members with elements of the commission’s proposal.
“These include the impact on areas of drained peatland and the impact on forestry and in particular on peat soil. There are also concerns regarding definitions used in the proposed regulation.
“Members have also raised concerns with Article 9 of the proposal which deals with the restoration of agricultural ecosystems, and Article 11 which lays out member states obligations regarding the preparation of national restoration plans.
“The committee welcomes this opportunity to meet with Mr. Delgado Rosa and looks forward to a wide-ranging discussion on commission’s proposal and the concerns outlined,” he said.
The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine has 14 members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.