Minister Pippa Hackett, Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for land use and biodiversity, today welcomed the international recognition achieved by the Irish ‘Farming for Nature’  initiative amongst its international peers. The Farming for Nature initiative developed by Burren Beo in 2018 aims  to help acknowledge and support farmers who farm, or wish to farm in a way that improves the natural health of the countryside.

A global search was recently completed to find innovators capable of bringing key players together who preserve and restore biodiversity.  The Farming for Nature initiative highlights the positive roles farmers play in looking after nature on their land, narrowly missed out on claiming the top prize, finishing in second place in Vittel and Ashoka's  Act for Biodiversity Challenge. More than 200 projects were evaluated in the challenge. The judges of the competitions offered high praise to Farming for Nature for making an impactful and innovative contribution, noting that the Farming for Nature, which is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, along with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), is delivering change among  farmers to care for nature. Farming for Nature  will be awarded €40,000 and will also have access to an Accelerator programme with the view of sharing what has worked so well in Ireland with other European countries.

Minister  Hackett praised Farming for Nature saying “I congratulate Farming for Nature on receiving this highly prestigious award.  The Farming for Nature initiative deserves great recognition for its fantastic work in improving farmland biodiversity in Ireland through supporting farming practices and by identifying, promoting and assisting farmers that improve farmland biodiversity.”

“I am delighted to be providing financial resources, along with NPWS, to the Farming for Nature initiative”.   

Note for Editors:

Further details regarding ‘Farming for nature’ at https://www.farmingfornature.ie/ .

Further information on the Act for Biodiversity Challenge is available on https://network.changemakers.com/challenge/act-for-biodiversity-challenge/brief .

ENDS

Date Released: 03 July 2020