An Taisce – the National Trust for Ireland – today welcomed the publication of the National Parks and Wildlife Service’s latest national assessment of Ireland’s protected habitats. An Taisce is concerned by the report’s stark conclusions and calls upon Simon Coveney, Minister for Agriculture, to create ambitious well funded agri-environment schemes to help alleviate the problem.
“Protecting species and habitats in the wider countryside is a particular challenge,” stated David Garvey, Agri-environment Assistant with An Taisce. He added “The creation of ambitious, well-funded agri-environment measures under the reformed CAP will be very important in this regard. We strongly encourage Minister Coveney to exercise the flexibility given to him under the new CAP settlement to transfer 15% of the Pillar 1 (direct payments) budget into Pillar 2 (rural development) to help fund sustainable, conservation-friendly farming practices.”
Read more in An Taisce press release.
