News
Minister Noonan opens 2025 Farm Plan Scheme to support nature restoration at farm level
Date Released: Thursday, October 24, 2024
- This year’s Farm Plan Scheme will allow a further 200 entrants to participate
- Participants can choose one of two themes – a 5-year management approach, or one off ‘Actions for Nature’
- The deadline for applications is 05 December 2024.
Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD, has opened the 2025 Farm Plan Scheme for applications. The Scheme supports farmers and non-farmer landowners to conserve and restore nature on their land based on bespoke advice, and pays them for the results they deliver. Interested participants are invited to apply by 05 December 2024.
Since it began in 2006, over 1,000 Farm Plans have been created, covering a variety of nature interests, from birds and other species of conservation concern to a range of habitats including eskers, coastal dunes, fens, peatlands and uplands and turloughs. Currently, there are 327 Farm Plans across the country. In the coming tranche, it is anticipated that approximately 200 additional plans will be designed.
Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD, encouraged landowners to join the Scheme:
“The NPWS Farm Plan Scheme is hugely impactful – both for nature and for the people doing the work to conserve it. It shows us what can be achieved when we work together. I’m pleased to have been able to grow the Scheme from 50 Farm Plans when I took office to over 300 now, and delighted to be able increase that number even further this year. It’s exciting to see the project diversify as well, with a new stream of one-off ‘Actions for Nature’, which I’m sure will improve accessibility for a wide range of farmers and landowners,” he said.
“The Farm Plan Scheme is a vital tool in the management of some of Ireland’s most important areas for nature and an valuable means of addressing the challenges facing biodiversity in Ireland, in partnership with the custodians of land. I invite more people to get involved and I look forward to seeing new plans bearing fruit for nature over the coming years.”
This new call sees a new approach within the scheme, where applicants can apply for either the traditional approach (typically 5-year on-going management plans) or one-off ‘Actions for Nature’ (e.g. nature pond creation, access management, fencing, encouraging saving of seeds for nature (e.g. for grasslands and woodlands), addressing alien invasive species, grants towards conservation management tools, etc.).
The NPWS is currently seeking applications to the NPWS Farm Plan Scheme. The deadline for submission of application is Thursday 05 December 2024.
How to apply:
Applications must be made using the NPWS Farm Plan Scheme application form (available on the National Parks and Wildlife Website and from Agri.Ecology@npws.gov.ie).
The Farm Plan Scheme call is split into two themes. The applicant should select the one which one is most relevant.
| Theme | Prioritising |
|---|---|
|
General call |
|
|
Actions for Nature |
|
Who should apply:
- The applicant does not need to be a farmer. Farmers or land managers who wish to manage land for nature should consider applying.
- Priority is offered to lands in designated sites, namely Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas and Natural Heritage Areas, or where it can be confirmed habitats or species of conservation concern exist.
- Land managers who identify direct conservation needs where one-off ‘quick win’ actions for nature can be delivered.
- NPWS cannot facilitate or progress plans which would lead to a risk of double-funding, with participants in other agri-environmental schemes e.g. ACRES/LIFE/EIPs.
As the budget is limited, NPWS reserves the right to select plans where the need for conservation action is the greatest.
Additional Information:
An overview of the NPWS Farm Plan Scheme can be found in the book is titled ‘Farming for Nature: the role of results-based payments’, which can be accessed online in pdf format.
The NPWS Farm Plan Scheme supports land managers, whether farmers or not, to deliver actions that benefit habitats and species in need.
The Scheme has a reputation for delivering high-end results, with land managers, farm planners and NPWS working together to co-create and develop bespoke plans for the land in question.
The plans are tailored to the land, the land manager and nature conservation objectives. This can range from results-based measures, to capital works, to altering or removing management to allow ecosystems regenerate naturally.
Minister Noonan invites anyone who manages land and is interested in financial and advisory supports to help nature, to submit applications by 05 December 2024.
The current call for applications is open until Thursday 05 December 2024.
About NPWS:
The NPWS is an Executive Agency within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, with primary responsibility for nature conservation, wildlife protection and the presentation and preservation of our National Parks and Nature Reserves.
The NPWS has a broad scientific remit, including the monitoring of habitats, species and designated sites, and undertaking scientific research. It has significant policy-advisory and policy-making functions in relation to nature and biodiversity, including the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan.
The NPWS has a wide range of operational responsibilities including the management of 8 National Parks, 74 Nature Reserves, and a variety of other State lands accessible to the public. The NPWS manages a range of EU programmes, alongside thousands of conservation measures across the designated area network and National Parks.
The NPWS is the principal coordinator of the National Biodiversity Action Plan and is a statutory consultee in relation to planning matters, including county and regional development plans. It is the lead Agency in drawing up the National Restoration Plan for Nature. Other responsibilities include regulatory and licencing functions, administering grant schemes to support farm-plans, conservation measures, actions for biodiversity, as well as invasive species control measures and the prevention, investigation and enforcement of wildlife crime.