Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

263 Chapter 10: Environment and Agriculture The European Innovation Partnership, LIFE and other locally led environmental projects The European Innovation Partnership Scheme funds projects that allow farmers, scientists and other experts to collaborate to develop new practices that are environmentally friendly and economically sustainable. 12 The aim of these innovation partnerships is to road-test new ideas and practices that can then be used more widely by farmers and others to improve productivity and enhance resource efficiency. Many of the projects have been designed to be locally led and results based, so that farmers are rewarded for actions undertaken in addition to positive environmental outcomes on their farms. Some key examples include the BRIDE Project 13 in Cork, the SUAS Project 14 in Wicklow, the Mulkear Project 15 in Limerick, and the larger scale Hen Harrier Project 16 and Freshwater Pearl Mussel Project. 17 The findings from these projects have informed the design and implementation of the ACRES agri-environmental scheme, which is a significant advance on earlier agri- environmental schemes that were based on payment for action models. Two new large-scale projects that will provide funding for farmers were also awarded in 2024: the €25 million Breeding Wader European Innovation Partnership 18 project, which aims to secure existing wader populations at key sites and support population recovery via wider landscape management and policy development; and the €60 million Farming for Water 19 European Innovation Partnership project, which will support the LAWPRO and ASSAP teams to ensure that measures to improve water quality are implemented. Ireland has also been awarded significant EU funding under the LIFE Programme for a number of relevant projects that are also results-based payment schemes to support farmers to implement measures to protect the environment. Two of the more significant ones are the Wild Atlantic Nature Project 20 and Waters of LIFE 21 project. 12 www.gov.ie/en/service/18a855-european-innovation-partnership-scheme/ (accessed 31 May 2024). 13 www.thebrideproject.ie (accessed 31 May 2024). 14 wicklowuplands.ie/suasproject/ (accessed 31 May 2024). 15 www.mulkeareip.com/ (accessed 6 September 2024). 16 www.gov.ie/en/service/82e360-hen-harrier-programme/ (accessed 31 May 2024). 17 www.pearlmusselproject.ie (accessed 31 May 2024). 18 www.gov.ie/en/press-release/3b3b7-hackett-and-noonan-announce-25-million-nationwide-project-on-breeding-waders-under- the-european-innovation-partnership-programme/ (accessed 31 May 2024). 19 www.gov.ie/en/press-release/468aa-ministers-mcconalogue-hackett-and-noonan-launch-60-million-farming-for-water-eip/ (accessed 31 May 2024). 20 www.wildatlanticnature.ie (accessed 31 May 2024). 21 www.watersoflife.ie (accessed 31 May 2024). 22 www.teagasc.ie/environment/climate-change--air-quality/signpost-programme/publications-/ (accessed 31 May 2024). The Teagasc Signpost Programme In 2021, Teagasc launched the Signpost Programme to point the way towards a climate-smart farming future. The programme is a partnership of over 30 companies and organisations from across the Irish agriculture sector, with the common goal of working with Irish farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce ammonia emissions, reduce nutrient losses, enhance biodiversity, reduce farmers’ costs and improve the efficiency of food production (Teagasc, 2021b). At the core of the programme is a network of Signpost farms that are serving as demonstration farms to showcase the latest science-based technologies to reduce emissions, act as a national network of farms for examining carbon sequestration and act as hubs for climate- friendly advisory support (Figure 10.10). Significant resources 22 are now available and the programme is being demonstrated in practice on the Signpost farms to help farmers learn about and embrace climate-friendly best practice. The Teagasc Signpost Advisory Programme builds on the network of Signpost demonstration farms by providing enhanced advisory and training support to farmers to commit to, select and implement climate and sustainability actions that will be appropriate and impactful on their farms. An online sustainability digital platform, AgNav, has been developed that calculates the greenhouse gas emissions for a farm and allows farmers to see and understand their carbon emissions and sequestration profile as a baseline from which to act.