The third application window for landscape actions within the Agri-Climate Rural Environmental Scheme (ACRES) has been announced by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon.

Minister Heydon said the landscape actions are designed to address environmental issues which have been highlighted in the scorecards and help participants improve the habitat quality which may result in a higher score of the land.

“Landscape actions are and continue to be important complementary environmental actions available under the ACRES co-operation approach, which is available to farmers in defined high priority geographical areas. These actions are designed to address, among other issues, invasive species management and encroaching scrub management in species rich grassland, threatened species and protect water quality.

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“The actions have been designed to target environmental issues, which have been highlighted in the scorecards for results-based payment. They help participants to improve the habitat quality of their land, which may in turn increase the score of that land, resulting in a higher payment for the participant,” he said.

Announcing the third application window, Minister Heydon highlighted the level of interest shown by farmers to the two previous windows.

“Following the encouraging levels of applications received for the first and second application windows, I am pleased to announce the opening of this third application window just weeks after the second batch of approvals for the second application window have issued,” he said.