EU Nature Restoration Law is a big threat to the livelihoods of Longford farmers

EU nature restoration laws have the potential to destabilise food security and threaten the livelihood of many Longford farmers a local agri representative has said.

“This will have a massive effect in Longford,” Ballinalee man John Sheridan, who is chair of Longford IFA branch, said of the move by member state environment ministers to approve the policy.

Nationally the IFA says the Irish government was wrong to support the introduction of this law “without the completion of an impact assessment” or “a dedicated budget” to support its implementation.

European Union countries approved the policy aimed at restoring damaged nature on Monday. 

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The nature restoration law requires member states to introduce measures restoring nature on a fifth of their land and sea by 2030.

It's a far reaching EU environmental policy that received the backing of member state's environment ministers at a meeting in Luxembourg earlier this week.

The policy aims to reverse the decline of Europe's natural habitats - 81% of which are classed as being in poor health - and includes specific targets, for example to restore peat lands so they can absorb CO2 emissions.

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The Longford IFA chair says uncertainty surrounds the implementation of the laws: “People have no understanding of how this will affect their lives. Anyone farming on heavy, peaty soil will be in trouble. This will impact a lot of farmers in Longford.”

Mr Sheridan explained what it means to farmers: “This goes back to Land Commission times. Land was designated as “peaty soil” back then. There are farmers who own land with that designation who may face having to re-wet it.”

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Meanwhile, following adoption of the Nature Restoration Law (NRL) by the European Council, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD has reiterated his assurance to farmers that all nature restoration measures will be voluntary. 

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The Minister said: “This Government, and I through my position on the AgriFish Council, secured additional flexibilities in the legal text of the NRL to both support farmers and to recognise our specific Irish circumstances. As a result of this intervention, the targets for restoration and rewetting of drained organic soils have been reduced from the original proposal. This means the total area for restoration now targets 50% of such area by 2050, rather than 70% as originally proposed, with a third to be rewetted, rather than a half. In addition, other flexibilities have been secured including an emergency break provision to suspend implementation in agriculture in the event of circumstances with severe consequences on food security.".

Commenting on the targets set under the NRL, the Minister clarified that:

“The legal obligation to achieve NRL targets is on the Member States not individual landowners. NRL targets for rewetting of drained organic soils are proportional to the national figure and these national figures were just recently recalculated by the EPA. This change, that revises the figure downwards from 332,900ha to 141,000ha, accounts for drained organic soils that have rewetted naturally. With the existing national commitments to rewet 33,000ha of Bord na Móna lands, these lands are sufficient to deliver the NRL rewetting targets without recourse to privately owned land to 2050. This fact is a strong reassurance to farmers that there will be no obligatory requirement on farmers to rewet land due to the NRL.” 

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The Minister continued: “I also want to be very clear that restoration measures will not negatively impact any existing CAP commitment, or any other scheme or incentive delivered by my Department. This was confirmed by Commissioner Sinkevicius. Any restoration measures that landowners choose to participate in will be voluntary, well incentivised, and resourced.

Ireland has already announced a €3.15 billion Climate and Nature Fund to support implementation. Farmers are committed to biodiversity and it is only right that they are provided with very strong funding separate to CAP to ensure that they are rewarded for any actions that they might voluntarily contribute to.”

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