Farmers must be rewarded for minding our native heartlands
THE role of hedgerows and natural vegetation across the West of Ireland in the promotion of biodiversity and in carbon sequestration, must be both ‘recognised and rewarded’ in EU farm policy over the coming years, according to Connacht IFA.
Connacht IFA Regional Chairman, Pat Murphy, said that a central plan of a ‘White Paper’ they had prepared on future EU agri-policy decisions was based on the role that farmers had played – ‘and continued to play’ – in terms of protecting and promoting their own native environment.
“We feel quite strongly that down through the decades the role farmers have played in protecting and nurturing the natural environment of their own areas, just has been taken for granted.
“For generations, farmers have been guardians of the landscape and if you travel across the West of Ireland you can see at first-hand that our mix of grasslands, hedgerows, bogs and natural vegetation is a real treasure,” said Pat Murphy.
He said that the role played by farmers in protecting this natural environment, had for too long, not been recognised by policy makers, adding that this had to change.
“As we look ahead what we have to ensure, is that the role of farmers in protecting this environmental gem that we have is fully recognised, documented and equally importantly rewarded, over the coming years,” said Pat Murphy.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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