There is just no avoiding it — Irish farming must change in response to biodiversity crisis
Almost 60% of our land is used for grassland — pasture, hay, silage, and rough grazing. Only 2% of the country has native woodland. File Picture: Larry Cummins
The country’s main farming body has expressed ‘serious concern’ about the report of the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss.
The report includes, among its recommendations, a referendum to write environmental protection into the Constitution, a Government minister with a biodiversity brief, the drafting of a new statutory National Biodiversity Plan, and heavier penalties for environmental pollution.
On agriculture, the Citizens' Assembly wants further subsidising of organic farming and locally grown produce, a levy on agricultural exports (the proceeds of which would be ringfenced for biodiversity), and a move towards plant-based diets.
Irish Farmers Association president Tim Cullinan has said that the idea of levying agricultural exports was "outlandish".
"The proposed levies will be just another tax on farmers and will do nothing to improve biodiversity," he said.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s response was encouraging — he has suggested the biodiversity crisis is very serious but is something that can be turned around quite quickly.
"I’m very much determined that we should be the generation of politicians that turned the corner on biodiversity," the Taoiseach said.
Brave words, but drastic steps are needed to put them into action.
The members of the Citizens' Assembly acknowledged that while the Government has declared a biodiversity crisis, there is little evidence that this is being taken seriously.
Specific recommendations are outlined in the report for agriculture, freshwaters, marine and coastal environments, peatlands, forestry, hedgerows, protective sites, invasive species, and urban and rural environments.
Key to the restoration of biodiversity are farmers, who are described as custodians of the land.
The report says the agriculture industry must be supported in conserving and restoring biodiversity.
Chairwoman of the Assembly, Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, said the recommendations are a call to action.
"Some sectoral interests and lobby groups may resist attempts to address biodiversity loss, but it is urgent that our policymakers, in particular our politicians, are supported in making bold decisions to protect, preserve, and restore the natural environment."
The figures are stark. We are consistently losing our hedgerows.
- Only 2% of the country has native woodland;
- Over a quarter of Ireland’s regularly-occurring bird species are in danger of extinction;
- At least one third of protected species are declining in population;
- Almost 30% of our semi-natural grasslands have been lost in the last decade;
- Less than half of our marine environment can be described as healthy;
The list goes on.
- Over 70% of peatlands are in a bad state, with a fragment still intact;
- The majority of agricultural soil is in a suboptimal state, contaminated by nitrates and phosphates;
- Water quality is continuing to decline, with almost half of freshwater systems in poor and deteriorating condition.
A report from the Department of Agriculture, published in March, identified that all the land we use to grow cereals would fit into an area slightly bigger than Roscommon and the land used to grow vegetables would fit into an area three-quarters the size of Co Dublin.
Meanwhile, almost 60% of our land is used for grassland — pasture, hay, silage, and rough grazing.
Is it any wonder biodiversity has plummeted?
The Assembly suggests that biodiversity is undervalued in our agriculture production system.
Critically, changes must be made to support and incentivise farmers and landowners to protect and restore biodiversity.
The report states categorically that "biodiversity targets in national schemes such as the Common Agriculture Programme (CAP) and Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) must be significantly more ambitious, detailed, and focused on the medium- to long-term" and that funding must be increased to support that ambition.
The report further recommends that public incentives and payments for farmers must not restrict them in their ambition to make changes for the benefit of biodiversity.
In the end, it comes down to money, and if farmers are expected to be custodians of the environment, this needs to be reflected in ensuring that their income is not penalised because of it.
The first step in achieving this is for Bord Bia, Teagasc, and the Government to acknowledge that Irish agriculture in its current form is not "sustainable".
Dairy farms with single grass species do not enhance biodiversity. The more land that is farmed, the less is available for grasslands, forests, and wetlands.
The new Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) payments for farmers introduced this year require at least 4% of the land on all farms to be set aside for "non-productive" purposes.
Farmers will also be able to receive payments on land parcels with up to 50% ineligible features such as scrubland or woodland.
While these changes are welcome, less than 5% of the CAP budget being targeted to support farmers to halt biodiversity loss is not enough.
Oonagh Duggan, head of advocacy with BirdWatch Ireland (BWI), told an Oireachtas committee in 2022 that urgent transformation of Irish agriculture "remained elusive" and that the draft CAP strategic plan for 2023-2027 is "very weak".
Studies from across Europe show that if a minimum of 10%-14% of agricultural land were to be non-productive, then birds and other wildlife would recover, but at landscape level, 26%-33% may be required for recovery.
The UK has made a legal commitment to ensure that 30% of the land is protected for nature by 2030.
The UK National Food Strategy says UK farming should adopt a three-pronged approach — including some farms that would deliberately lower their yields and some that would return entirely to nature.
More food would be extracted from a smaller fraction of land without resorting to the intensive farming practices that have done so much damage.
One thing is clear. We can either embrace the challenge of biodiversity collapse with comprehensive plans and targets, or we can continue on the treadmill of intensive beef and dairy production that consumes the majority of the land.
We can’t do both, so let’s stop pretending we can.
