The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is looking for farmers to apply to the Farm Plan Scheme for 2021.

The deadline for submission of application is Friday 9 April 2021 and it is anticipated that the NPWS will approve approximately 200 new plans arising from this call for applications.

There are three categories of plans which farmers can take part in:

  • Type A: conservation measure plans for sites of strategic importance, such as natura 2000 sites and ideally where a cluster of landowners can combine to work at a landscape level.
  • Type B: intervention plans for sites where there is a need to intervene and address the management of a particular area of land in agreement with the landowner (this is typically led by NPWS).
  • Type C: research and innovation plans, aimed at advancing knowledge and testing new methodologies to inform wider application.

    • Who should apply

    The Department of Heritage, which is responsible for the NPWS, said people with lands in designated sites such as special areas of conservation (SAC) and special protection areas (SPA) and people whose lands support habitats and species of conservation concern should apply to the Farm Plan Scheme.

    Targeted areas and birds

    The NPWS is keen for farmers with the following habitats to apply for the Farm Plan Scheme:

  • River, lake or turlough.
  • Heathland or blanket bog.
  • High nature value grassland (grazed).
  • High nature value grassland (meadowed).
  • Esker.
  • Wetlands including fens, reedbeds and marshes.
  • Native woodland.
  • Very low intensity farmland with natural areas including scrub, wet flushes, high quality hedgerows, etc.

    • The birds and wildlife which the Department hopes to target and conserve through the schemes are the barn owl, meadow pipit, red grouse, yellowhammer, wintering geese/swans, curlew, dunlin, redshank, snipe, golden plover, chough, marsh fritillary butterfly and the lesser horseshoe bat.

    Farmers who are interested in applying must apply through the NPWS Farm Plan Scheme application form, which is available on www.npws.ie and from Agri.Ecology@chg.gov.ie.

    Benefits

    The Farm Plan Scheme was launched in 2006 to support landowners to deliver actions that benefit habitats and species in SAC and SPA, known collectively as Natura 2000 sites, support farmland biodiversity and to provide a platform for trialling new conservation approaches which can be delivered on a wider scale.

    Over the past 15 years, around 800 plans have been delivered, covering a variety of nature interests, from birds and other species of conservation concern to habitats including eskers, coastal dunes, fens and turloughs.

    Currently, there are around 100 active farm plans across the country. This year, additional funding will allow for approximately 200 additional plans.