The proposed Nature Restoration Regulation places an unfair burden on the thousands of farmers operating on peat soils, the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) has said.

Outlining concerns on the new law to representatives of the EU Commission at a meeting in Brussels this week, INHFA president Vincent Roddy said that the law will cause "drastic changes" to farming practices on our farmed peat soils.

These legally binding targets, he said, will impact farmers both on the drained peatlands and in the uplands, and will leave farmers totally dependent on EU or State support.

Without farming activity, the rural economy and many communities who currently depend on the economic activity created through farming practices will be completely undermined, he said.

"There is no doubt that the EU Commission want to rewet the 300,000ha of drained peatlands which they maintain will help in the capture of carbon.

"This was a point they made on a number of occasions during the meeting," he said.

INHFA representatives at the meeting challenged the proposed rewetting and other restoration proposals.

"The impact of these proposals both on farmers and the wider rural community was also discussed.

"There was an acceptance that proposed options such as blueberry and cranberry cultivation or the farming of water buffalo was not a viable alternative for Irish farmers," he said.

Roddy added that when the Commission was challenged on this, officials were unable to provide viable options to replace current farming practices, most notably livestock rearing.

In concluding, Roddy stressed how this week’s meeting, while challenging, is only the beginning of a process.

"In the weeks and months ahead, the INHFA will work both at home and in Brussels to protect the interests of the estimated 40,000 farmers currently threatened by this regulation," he said.