Macra has said that it “is greatly concerned” with the level of debate around the EU Nature Restoration law which was published in June 2022.

The Nature Restoration Law seeks to increase biodiversity in areas including managed forests and agricultural land.

The restoration and rewetting of drained peatlands, under agricultural use and in peat-extraction sites, is also a proposed target by the European Commission.

The commission aims to cover at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas with nature restoration measures by 2030 and repair the 80% of EU habitats that are in poor condition by 2050.

Macra

Macra president Elaine Houlihan said: “The implementation of a ‘one size fits all’ solution across the EU gives cause for concern, a more nuanced approach is required to implement this law.”

Macra has claimed that taking 20% of Ireland’s land mass from production will greatly decrease our ability to produce food as Ireland currently feeds 40 million people per year.

The association feels that it is counterproductive to reduce food production capacity in a world where the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there are 820 million people without sufficient food.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue told Agriland during a trade mission for China last week that he is confident that any rewetting of peat-based agricultural soils will be “voluntary” for farmers under the proposed EU Nature Restoration Law.

The Macra president continued: “The concern is that privately owned land will be used to reach the targets as the targets go beyond state capacity.

“If this is implemented as currently proposed, we have very serious concerns that this will negatively impact the viability of our family farms.”

Macra has called for continual dialogue in relation to the rewetting issue in order to protect the future of family farms.