The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan, T.D., has announced the launch of a new book dealing with agriculture and the environment, titled ‘Farming for Nature: The Role of Results-Based Payments’ which has been published by the National Parks & Wildlife Service of her Department and Teagasc.
Minister Madigan welcomed the publication of the book by her Department: “I am pleased to announce the online launch of this important book, co-published by my Department and Teagasc. Farming has shaped the Irish landscape over many centuries and plays a dominant role in the fortunes of our native Irish flora and fauna, habitats and waterways. This book presents various lessons learned over decades of work involving farmers and practitioners, who have helped evolve new approaches to farming for nature in modern Ireland. This book shall serve as a useful review of what has been achieved to date, while providing important considerations for the future.”
Several projects and programmes in Ireland are widely acknowledged as frontrunners in the design and implementation of results-based approaches for conservation of farmland biodiversity. Results-based approaches are the focus of a growing discussion about improved biodiversity conservation and environmental performance of EU agri-environmental policies. This book outlines lessons learned from a collection of Irish case studies that have successfully implemented results-based approaches and payments for the conservation of farmland habitats and species.
The case studies detailed in the book include prominent projects and programmes: the Burren Programme, AranLIFE, KerryLIFE, the NPWS Farm Plan Scheme and Result-Based Agri-environmental Payment Schemes (RBAPS) project. The case studies and accompanying chapters share some of the Irish experience in developing results-based approaches by, for example, providing actual farm plans and scoring sheets, as well as detailing governance mechanisms, the role of advisory services, the choice of indicators, monitoring details and the relationship between results and payment. The book also includes reflections on the scientific background to results-based approaches and their policy context. It concludes by asking: where do we go from here?
This book is intended for an international audience of practitioners, policymakers and academics interested in results-based approaches for the conservation of biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services. The book has clear relevance to research, policy and practice in the area of agriculture, environment, sustainability and rural development. It is borne out of close collaboration between practitioners and researchers.
It is planned to physically launch the book in autumn 2020, but is available now for free download on the NPWS website at https://www.npws.ie/news/farming-for-nature-book
