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A €3m blueprint that places farmers at the centre of Burren
conservation is to be rolled out across 100 farms in the area.
Environment Minister John Gormley has confirmed that his
department was to provide the funding. The money will go to
farmers to implement the 'blueprint', which has been
devised from the five-year-long BurrenLife
project, which came to an official end on January 31.
The Department of the Environment is now seeking tenders
to oversee the €3m spend.
National Parks and Wildlife Service director Ciaran O'Keeffe
said - "The minister has been very supportive of the BurrenLife
approach and nothing really comparable has happened before
in terms of the success it has achieved. Everyone is delighted
with it."
The objective of the project is to work towards an improvement
in the conservation quality of the EU-protected habitats,
to ensure sustainable agricultural management of high-nature-value
farmland within the Burren, to contribute to improvements
in water quality within the Burren and to maintain the high
quality of the Burren landscape and cultural heritage.
Burren IFA chairman Michael Davoren described the department's
decision to fund the three-year project as "absolutely wonderful
news".
Source - The Irish Independent
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