An update on a Locally Led Scheme

For the past number of years Wicklow Uplands Council has been working with hill farmers, the Irish Uplands Forum, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Teagasc in working towards supporting upland farmers and the best management of upland vegetation. Research carried out in the Wicklow/Dublin uplands identified a decline in upland sheep farming and the need for targeted support for upland farmers. As outlined in the previous article, farmers play a crucial role in keeping upland habitats in good environmental condition. During the last review of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) Wicklow Uplands Council lobbied for the inclusion of locally led schemes, for upland areas, under the Rural Development Programme (RDP) and following the consultation period with the Department of Agriculture provision was made for such schemes.

Recently there has been a lot of discussion and media coverage in relation to vegetation management and locally led schemes. However the question for many people is still, what exactly are Locally Led Agri Environment Schemes (LLAESs) and how do they work? Essentially LLAESs encourage locally driven solutions to address environmental and biodiversity challenges at a local level i.e. local solutions to local problems.  While other agri-environment schemes have aimed to address environmental problems a weakness has been that they operated on a ‘one size fits all’ approach. LLAESs aim to offer a more targeted approach.

The value of a locally led approach was realised following two very successful initiatives in the Burren, Co Clare; The Burren LIFE Project 2005-2010 and the Burren Farming for Conservation Programme 2010-2015. These programmes successfully demonstrated the important role that farmers and farming practices play in the conservation of habitats.

After a lengthy period of anticipation a competitive call for applications for LLAESs for upland areas was announced in December 2016 under the European Innovations Partnerships (EIP) programme. The EIP involves the cooperation of farmers, scientists, advisors, NGOs and others coming together in operational groups to address a specific issue. This call for applications was open to projects focusing on environmental or climate related issues not just in upland areas.

Wicklow Uplands Council submitted a proposal for a LLAES aptly titled ‘Sustainable Uplands Agri-environment Scheme’ (SUAS). The aim of SUAS is to support farmers and promote improved vegetation management in the Wicklow/Dublin uplands. The proposal is based on the research carried out in the area over the last number of years. There was huge interest in the EIP programme with a greater than expected number of applications being submitted for consideration. The Uplands Council application was one of 22 projects to be shortlisted to progress to the second round of the application process. This stage of the application process will involve the development of a detailed operational group project proposal, to be submitted in September 2017. It is expected that up to 11 projects will then be shortlisted to actually implement the projects on the ground

While it is still very early days in the application process it is envisaged that SUAS will be a 5 year programme supporting economically, socially and environmentally sustainable farming. It will support the development and implementation of comprehensive plans (including grazing, vegetation management, fire management, access issues, protecting significant sites etc.) aimed at improving/maintaining the quality of upland habitats and biodiversity. Participants in the scheme will undertake a number of clear measures which will help to achieve the goals.

As the proposal is still in the very early stages the exact details need to be fully developed. The allocated budget for each successful applicant has yet to be determined by the Department and this will obviously be a key factor in how the scheme can be implemented and what can be realistically achieved. The most important thing is that SUAS works effectively for all those involved. These projects will be monitored closely by the Department with the next review of the CAP in mind and if successful may be rolled out wider.

Wicklow Uplands Council will be working very closely with local stakeholders over the summer months to prepare the detailed project proposal. The level of research that has been carried out to date means that we are well positioned to develop and implement one of the first locally led schemes for upland areas in the country.

Brian Dunne, Co-ordinator, Wicklow Uplands Council