EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Chapter 13: Environment and Agriculture and ecosystems in Ireland are conserved and restored, delivering essential benefits for all sectors of society and that Ireland contributes to efforts to halt loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystems in the EU and globally’. There is currently a growing recognition of the importance of biodiversity and ‘greening’ measures in agricultural policy; for example, the contribution of natural capital 4 was included in Food Wise 2025 and Bord Bia’s Origin Green initiative. Figure 13.1  Irish EIP-AGRI operational groups (Source: NUI Galway and National Rural Network) 4 Natural capital is defined as the stock of natural assets such as geology, soil, air, water and all living things. Humans derive ecosystem services from natural capital, which makes human life possible. The introduction of locally-led and results-based projects in which farmers input into the design of on-farm projects should provide useful information for the future design of agri-environment-climate measures. In April 2020, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Teagasc published a book on the role of result-based payments in agri-environmental projects and programmes (Teagasc and NPWS, 2020). In particular, EU LIFE and European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs) have been developed to support specific habitats and species. The EIPs are a new initiative that began in 2016. They are funded by the DAFM under the Rural Development Programme, with total funding of €59 million available. There are currently 23 projects/operational groups in place across Ireland (Figure 13.1). One such project, the BRIDE project, 5 which runs until 2022, aims to design and implement a cost-effective, results-based approach to conserve, enhance and restore habitats in lowland intensive farmland. 5 https://www.thebrideproject.ie/ 335