ICSA: Fair payment the 'core principle' to nature restoration plan
Fair payments for famers must be a core principle of Ireland's nature restoration plan, the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association's (ICSA) chair, Edmond Phelan has insisted.
Phelan, who recently attended the leaders' forum on nature restoration in Dublin, said: “If farmers are expected to take land out of production, they must be properly paid for doing so - and on an ongoing basis.
"Nature restoration is not a short-term initiative, it has lasting consequences for generations, and payments will have to reflect that.
"Short-term schemes like ACRES, which only provide temporary support, will not be enough."
The ICSA chair believes that the forum was a positive first step in the development of the plan, but key concerns remain about how farmers will be treated in the process.
“For the most part, attendees recognised that if farmers are asked to take land out of production, they must be adequately paid. However, farmer representatives were outnumbered on the day by environmental and other NGOs (non government organisations)," he said.
"This raises questions about whose interests will ultimately shape the plan and whether farmers will be fairly treated,” he added.
Phelan believes there is growing scepticism among farmers about the voluntary nature of the nature restoration law.
He said: "While the government has given assurances that all activities will be voluntary, many farmers worry that if targets are not met by 2030, pressure will mount to impose compulsory measures.
"We need firm guarantees that farmers will not be coerced into land-use changes in the future to meet targets that may prove unrealistic. There is also a real concern around how farmland surrounding rewetted lands could be affected, and these farmers certainly haven’t volunteered to be adversely affected.”
According to Phelan, the way farmers and foresters were treated in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn will serve as a "crucial test" of the government's commitment to supporting them through the nature restoration efforts.
He said: "I am also concerned that when the true cost of the plan becomes clear, there is a risk that it will be watered down or pushed onto the political back burner, particularly given the shifting political landscape in Europe and the US.
"If we go back to first principles, agriculture was forced to intensify due to an unrelenting drive for cheaper food. Farmers had to drive up output because of declining margins - it was a race to the bottom, dictated by policymakers, not farmers. In this era of nature restoration, we must also acknowledge that the era of cheap food is over," Phelan added.
