Hen harrier bonus payments for farmers
THE Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed T.D. has announced that almost €500,000 will be paid to farmers this week in recognition of their contribution to the very successful 2019 hen harrier breeding season.
This payment, which comes on top of the annual scheme payment for farmers, is a dividend payment rewarding hen harrier presence and success on the farmer’s land last year. The Hen Harrier Programme is a €25m scheme from the Department as part of Ireland’s Rural Development Programme.
Last year was a very successful one for hen harriers - the 56 confirmed pairs in the six Special Protection Areas (SPAs) reared at least 81 chicks. This was the highest number for 14 years.
Hen harriers tend to spend winter in more coastal and lowland areas, with the East Coast Nature Reserve in Newcastle considered a good site to view the birdsof-prey.
From the earliest documented records in the 1850s, Hen Harriers were generally distributed throughout Ireland with breeding strongholds in Wicklow, Kerry and the Tipperary/Waterford border, before their numbers started to dwindle.
Minister Creed stated, ‘This Hen Harrier scheme is a key biodiversity measure from my Department and has gone from strength to strength. More than 1,500 participant farmers are helping to conserve this beautiful bird for generations to come. Last year’s successful breeding season comes after a lot of hard work by many stakeholders and it is fitting that we are rewarding this during National Biodiversity Week.’
The purpose of the programme is to pilot new approaches to farming for conservation with farmers being paid for improving the natural habitat to deliver defined environmental objectives.
The Hen Harrier Programme invests with farmers in actions that can support the delivery of quality habitats. Over €3m in habitat payments have been paid to farmers over the last six months.
The bonus payment this week is the payment from the Hen Harrier Programme to qualifying farmers based on how well Hen Harriers are doing in their area.