This article is from page 14 of the 2009-07-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
EACH farmer in the environmental- ly sensitive Burren area is to receive an average of €6,000 over the next three years to insure the survival of the threatened Burren landscape.
A new €3 million fund was an- nounced by the Department of Agri- culture last week which will directly fund Burren farming to introduce farm techniques which will reverse the encroachment of scrub on the karst Burren landscape.
The funding will be used to intro- duce a Burren wide roll out of many of the ideas developed by the Burren- LIFE Project over the last five years. It does not, however, guarantee the continuation of the project past this August.
“This is the best day of my farming lite. This decision is way bigger that the initial EC funding of the pilot phase of BurrenLIFE,” said head of the Burren IFA, Michael Davoren.
“It represents a very serious buy by the Department of Agriculture for the work being undertaken by Bur- ren farmers. It is now critical that the Department of the Environment fund the operational side of project and ensure that the project offices and team are retained.”
Should the BurrenLIFE Project not receive a late funding reprieve from the Department of the Environment or other sources, it is not clear who will oversee the €3 million invest- ment.
“This is a stunning statement of support for the Burren, its farmers and the innovative BurrenLIFE ap- proach to farming for conservation,’ said Brendan Dunford, Project Man- ager of the BurrenLIFE Project.
‘“BurrenLIFE is a very focused and targeted scheme, all of its actions are carefully researched and closely monitored. The strict emphasis on delivering tangible, measurable re- sults and good value for money are so critical now that resources are so tight.”
Dunford also paid tribute to the
project team of Sharon Parr, Ruairi OQ Conchtir and James Moran as well as Sean Regan from Teagasc for the work done on the project and se- curing the funding.
Meanwhile, Clare TD, Tony Kil- leen has confirmed that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith, will visit the Burren region over the coming weeks to be briefed on the BurrenLIFE Project.