Ireland
Country Infos
- ▶ SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PLAN FOR THE MACGILLYCUDDY REEKS
- ▶ The Irish Breeding Curlew EIP
- ▶ CAOMHNÚ ÁRANN - MANAGING THE HABITATS OF THE ARAN ISLANDS
- ▶ PROTECTING FARMLAND POLLINATORS
- ▶ ALLOW PROJECT – DUHALLOW FARMING FOR BLUE DOT CATCHMENTS
- ▶ THE BRIDE PROJECT
- ▶ BLACKSTAIRS FARMING FUTURES
- ▶ PEARL MUSSEL PROJECT
- ▶ HEN HARRIER PROJECT
- ▶ THE BURREN PROGRAMME
- ▶ RBAPS PROJECT
RBAPS PROJECT
Overview
Scheme
The RBAPS project was a three-and-a-half-year project in Ireland and Spain working with farmers and stakeholders developing ways to reward farmers for delivering biodiversity on their lands. The key element of results-based method of delivering payments is that the amount of money paid to the farmer reflects the quality of wildlife (biodiversity) that is delivered on their farmed land.
This project run for 3.5 years (January 2015 – June 2018) and worked in 3 pilot areas: Lowland semi-natural grasslands in County Leitrim, Ireland; The Shannon Callows, Ireland; Mediterranean upland areas of Navarra, Spain.
Location of the scheme
several regions- Lowland semi-natural grasslands in County Leitrim, Ireland
- The Shannon Callows, Ireland
- Mediterranean upland areas of Navarra, Spain
- https://rbaps.eu/about/
Duration of the scheme
Since: January 2015Until: June 2018
Objective(s) of the scheme / project
- Biodiversity
Which habitats or species are in the focus of the scheme / project?
- Habitats (incl. habitats of Fauna-Flora-Habitat-Directive (FFH-D.))
- Species (incl. species of FFH-D. and Birds Directive (BD))
- Landscape elements
In County Leitrim our participants have two measures available, Species-rich Grassland and Marsh Fritillary butterfly Habitat; on the Shannon Callows the options available to Farmers are Species-rich Flood Meadow and Wet Grassland suitable for Breeding Waders.
Which indicators are used?
- Habitats (incl FFH and BD)
- Species (incl FFH and BD)
In results-based payments farmers lands are assessed and given a quality score, which reflects the condition of the biodiversity on that land and determines the level of payments made to the farmer. Each scorecard is comprised of results indicators which are surrogates for measuring the actual biodiversity and just as each biodiversity target (e.g. habitat or species) must respond to agricultural practices so must the result indicators. Result indicators must also be fair to the farmer in so far as they do not respond to changes outside the influence of his/her agricultural practices. Result indicators must be easily understood by farmers, farm advisors, ecologists and auditors following a short training session.
Scoring guidance enable the user to carry out the field based assessment of quality and are designed to act as a support tool for the indoor and field-based training in the use of the relevant scorecard. Scoring guidelines explain each result indicator thoroughly and describe the various levels of achievement for each indicator on a scale of good to bad.
Full details available at https://rbaps.eu/documents/scorecards/
Design of scheme / project
- Hybrid result based payment with complementary management based payments
A step by step guide on the designing results baed payment was developed as part of the project see https://rbapseu.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/rbaps_gh01_general_guidance.pdf
By which fund(s) is the scheme / project implemented?
- Others
Pilot project funded by European Commission with financial support from the European Parliament
How are the incentives (payment levels) calculated?
- Other
Calculations are based on the costs and income foregone of the farming practices which are generally required to achieve the desired result.
Full details on costings and payments level calculations can be got in section 3 of the step by step guide to design see https://rbapseu.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/rbaps_gh01_general_guidance.pdf pages 44-51
How many hectares are in the scheme?
- 100 – 500
How many farmers take part in the scheme?
- 50 – 100
How are participating farmers supervised/advised?
- Advisors visits (obligatory)
- Website
- Information meetings/workshops (obligatory)
A summary of the training and advise given to farmers is diven in the non-technical summary of the project see page 10 https://rbapseu.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/rbaps_es01_non_technical-summary.pdf
Are there any evaluation results?
- No
Deatils of the monitoring and evaluation carried out as part of the project are available in the end of project syntheis report pages 28-40
https://rbapseu.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/rbaps_eop01_project-synthesis.pdf
Website
Contact person
James Moran,
Galway Mayo Institute of Technology.
james.moran@gmit.ie
