Results-based Farming in Ireland’s blanket bogs

Members of the Irish Peatland Society learned how to use the Peatland Score Card shown below to assess the habitat quality of a blanket bog site used for farming in terms of biodiversity, hydrology and threats. On the basis of the score applied a farmer is paid. Where negative scores are applied a farmer can intervene by blocking drains or removing invasive Rhododendron ponticum after appropriate skills training. Such actions improve the overall score for the habitat and the farmer is paid more.

The results-based approach directly links farmers’ agri-environment payments to the ecological condition of their land, thereby rewarding good environmental management and incentivizing improvement on lower scoring lands. In the Wild Atlantic Nature project based in Irish blanket bogs 823 farmers across 63,000ha of Natura 2000 and contiguous land are participating in the scheme.

The cards are available from https://www.wildatlanticnature.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ WAN-habitat-scoring-sheet-PEATLAND-July-2021.pdf Moderate