CAP Post 2020

Green Architecture

Lapwing by Michael Bell

A presentation delivered to the CAP Consultative

Committee April 28th 2020 by Oonagh Duggan

and prepared by members of the Environmental

Pillar network of organisations

www.environmentalpillar.ie

Covid 19 + Climate Change and Biodiversity loss

• CAP will be delayed 1 or 2 years - the world will be a different place when we finalise the CAP Strategic Plan, so the plan will also be very different.• Already market and supply chain problems • Need to somehow support farmers at this time• Local Food security imperative

• Climate Heating still going on• Atlantic waters warmest in 2019 - more storms more rain• Biodiversity declines & no restoration of catastrophic farmland bird

loss • Still need to meet Climate Targets & Biodiversity Obligations

Status of Envt’l indicators in Ireland relative to agriculture

• All the indicators for biodiversity + water going ↓

• Ag GHGs going ↑+ increasing

• Farmland bird population losses have not halted and not recovered despite several iterations of CAP

• + Pandemic:

IPBES report from 2019 has called for transformative change to address biodiversity loss globally https://ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment

EU AmbitionPreamble to draft CAP Strategic Plan Regulations:“Bolstering environmental care and climate action and contributing to the achievement of Union environmental and climate-related objectives is a very high priority in the future of Union agriculture and forestry. The architecture of the CAP should therefore reflect greater ambition with respect to these objectives.”

Pillar Ambition- A CAP Strategic Plan that:● Supports farmers in making a decent living in harmony with

the environment the farm is located● Increases and restores populations of farmland birds like breeding Curlew, Lapwing,

Corncrake, Yellowhammer, Barn Owl, Hen Harrier across the country● Ensures thriving wild bee and other insect populations across the country● Ag greenhouse gas emissions are in line with Paris Agreement● Ensures healthy river, lake & estuarine water quality & aquatic life● Ensures that we can feed ourselves a variety of healthy food

Government Ambition ?

Great Yellow Bumble Bee

by Dave Suddaby

Spending Commitments

• Feb 2019 - Commission proposal• 40% of the CAP’s overall budget on climate action. • A minimum 30% of Pillar 2 funding will be spent on climate and

environment related measures.

BUT

Environmental Pillar would like to see :

● 50% of Pillar 2 funding ringfenced for environmental measures● 50 % of Pillar 1 for eco-schemes● Safeguards for 2014-2020 investment levels in biodiversity

• CAP should incentivise farming that produces high quality food and enhances habitats, sequesters carbon, improves water quality, maintains soil health and alleviates flooding.

• Nature has limits- global trends indicate we are facing a mass extinction and Ireland is similarly affected.

• Quantity, quality and connectivity matter- ecosystem type, condition and extent determine the services that are delivered in any one area.

• One Size CAP doesn’t fit all- targeted interventions are essential to ensure ecosystem service delivery across the Irish landscape.

• Strengthen the links: The food system depends on links between people, producers and nature. Strengthening these links enhances benefits from nature and the reputation of Irish agricultural produce.

• Nature needs long term but flexible planning-support natural processes that deliver beneficial ecosystem services.

Overarching principles for CAP Strategic Plan- CAP4Nature:

Concerns with CAP architecture that must be addressed● Potential for future budget cuts impacting Pillar 2 schemes

● ‘Direct Payments’ with low levels of environmental ambition.

● That some current RDP schemes could undermine ambition on

climate/biodiversity/water (ie TAMs farm buildings in 2014-2020 RDP supporting

expansion of dairy+ ↑ GHG emissions but most CC action focused on beef side

(effective measures?)

● Vague actions with no verifiable results

● Farmland Bird Index is misleading on Irish reality (e.g. reality for breeding waders).

● Very poor performance monitoring and evaluation in GLAS

● Voluntary nature of some measures a problem

● Some schemes give money for nothing, eg. EFAs

with little biodiversity benefit, ie..gappy hedgerows.

To address the concerns:• Transform Direct Payments into payments for public goods with maximum

transfer of funds from P1 to P2. Any P2 budget cuts must be compensated from P1 transfer or national exchequer funds.

• Ensure €€ support for environmental action must meet national & EU targets for climate + biodiversity + water+ammonia.

• Require that farm advisors have appropriate training and skills to support farmland biodiversity. Also, need specialist ecological advice for targeted measures.

• Use the experience gained from EIPs, LLAES, RBAPs schemes to lead the way on transforming delivery of new schemes

• Ensure wider eligibility of farmland habitats in CAP to incentivise habitat protection -address land eligibility rules- how do we address this? Where is the forum?

Actions needed continued...

• Ensure robust environmental monitoring and enforcement based on expert

advice.

• Ensure that CAP measures do not directly/indirectly impact ability of people

in global South to develop their own markets

• Targets and actions must be to set S.M.A.R.T. (i.e. specific, measurable,

ambitious, realistic and time-bound)

BirdWatch Ireland studied the movements and foraging patterns of Barn Owls using GPS tracking devices. The map shows the movements of an adult male Barn Owl in Co. Cork in 2017, which shows the importance of hedgerows and edge habitats in an intensive agricultural landscape, which were the main habitats used for hunting by the bird throughout its home range. The red dots show where the bird was stationary, orange dots represent slow foraging flight and yellow dots are where the bird was in fast or transit flight. This data shows that the interior of the fields were largely ignored and most foraging focused on hedgerows, field margins and edge habitats.More info here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNE-VhtXCoA&t=29s

Concerns with CAP supporting structures

● CAP Strategic Plan must fit within national policies & objectives on:

health + diet, biodiversity, climate, water, tackling food waste.

● Inadequate enforcement of existing environmental legislation

● Need for demonstrated coherence in Conservation Objectives of Natura

2000 sites + CAP measures on farmland

● Land eligibility rules are resulting in significant loss of habitat

● Thresholds in EIA regulations for Hedgerows must be removed. Between

2011-2016 resulted in over 200km of hedgerows approved for removal-

22% of these in Wexford.

Enhanced Conditionality - Proposed new GAECs +SMRs

We support! BUT Note the absence of clear targets and quantifiable outcomes linked to specific measures

Climate Change

GAEC 1 Maintenance of permanent pasture (no ploughing whatsoever)

GAEC 2 Protection of carbon-rich soils through appropriate protection of peatland and wetland (needs particular further support through Pillar 1 + Pillar 2 to ensure farmers are rewarded for restoration.

GAEC 3 Maintenance of soil organic matter through ban on burning stubble

Water

GAEC 4 Establishment of buffer strips along water courses

GAEC 5 Use of Farm Sustainability Tools for Nutrients

Enhanced Conditionality cont’d...

Soil Protection and quality

GAEC 6 Minimum land management under tillage

GAEC 7 No bare soil in most sensitive period

GAEC 8 Crop Rotation

Biodiversity and landscape

GAEC 9 Maintenance of non-productive features and area, including a minimum share of agricultural area devoted to non-productive features or areas, retention of landscape features, a ban on cutting hedges during the bird breeding and nesting season, and as an option, measures for avoiding invasive plant species.

We are calling for a minimum of 10% for non-productive land for biodiversity on all farms.

Must be continued protection of landscape features such as hedgerows

GAEC 10 Ban on converting or ploughing permanent grassland in Natura 2000 sites

Enhanced Conditionality - Proposed new SMRs

New Statutory Management Requirements - elements of

• Water Framework Directive• Sustainable use of Pesticides Directive

Continuing

• Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora Directive• Conservation of wild birds Directive• Nitrates Directive

Lapwing chicks in grassland.

Lapwing is a red-listed breeding wader of conservation

concern that breeds on open farmland. The right kind of

grazing supports the habitats needed for Lapwing. They

prefer nesting on unimproved cattle grazed pastures with

short swards; wet features such as ditches and pools are

important to provide muddy edges with bare patches

suitable for chicks.

Away from grasslands, they will also nest in spring-sown

crops, particularly where adjacent to grass and wet

features. The breeding Lapwing population has collapsed

in Ireland due to changes in agriculture and increased

predation.

More info here: https://birdwatchireland.ie/birds/lapwing/

Lapwing chicks by Paul Troake

Eco-schemes • Should be high proportion of extra landscape elements going beyond

minimum requirements under conditionality - species protection, water protection, soil protection

• Should be supported by €€ to ensure max take up by farmers• Measures must be based on scientific evidence that they work• Should support landscape scale benefits for biodiversity as much as

possible • Different schemes for different farm and land/habitat types• Environmental Pillar is calling for 50% of Pillar 1 funds allocated to

EcoSchemes• Monitoring & evaluation built in to measure outcomes for environment

and to plan for adaptive management if needed

Eco-schemes - some suggestions (not exhaustive)• Supporting HNV farmland - Extensive grassland management - no pesticides

or mineral fertilisers and highly restricted application of organic fertiliser• Peatland & peat soil restoration • Conserve and restore grassland and heathland• Extensive arable production - no pesticides or mineral fertilisers and highly

restricted application of organic fertiliser• Sown wildflower/flowering strips • Management of traditional orchards• Support for hedgerow management that works for biodiversity• Agroforestry in appropriate settings (not threatening HNV land)• High level of crop species diversity

Eco-schemes - some suggestions cont’d

• Diversification - A conversion-to-mixed-farming bonus where soils allow-farmers who bring in another practice (e.g. tillage or horticulture on a livestock farm) get an eco bonus.

• Farmer workshops to ensure eco-schemes are tailored to needs and realities, to ensure greater uptake.

Eco-schemes - What they shouldn’t cover

• Production of Biomass crops• Production of Biogas crops• Production of crops grown for material use• Minimum tillage (higher use of pesticides)

Implementation variants - examples

All based on whole farm consultancy for implementation - (supported under Pillar 2) - can be:

• Area based• Packaged solutions - bundles of measures per farm• Points system - selection from a catalogue of measures • Tiered systems

Lesser Horseshoe

Bat from Vincent

Wildlife Trust

Curlew by Mike

Brown

Species rich grassland with pink

Ragged Robin, Co Leitrim by

Oonagh Duggan

Yellowhammer by

Clive Timmons

Farmer in the BRIDE project showing school children tree

leaves on his farm by Sinéad Hickey.

Marsh Fritillary by Coilín

MacLochlainn

Agri Environment Schemes

● Targeted, results-based, supported by scientific expertise in design, implementation, delivery and monitoring (new Delivery model following on from EIPs etc ex-situ from DAFM?)

● Schemes, measures and actions which halt and restore farmland bird pops and priority species + filling gaps of those species left out in current RDP

● Some wider scale measures poss too (wild bird cover?)● Improved availability of Organic Farming Scheme (which currently opens rarely

and has 3rd lowest numbers in EU, despite huge market in EU)● A scheme supporting Lesser Horsehoe Bat in 6 counties● Agroforestry (very low in Ireland, needs 15 years as per forestry in general, and

cannot threaten HNV farmland)

Agri Environment Schemes ● Commonage Management Plan design, actions and delivery must line up with

conservation objectives of Natura sites and species.● Areas of Natural Constraint scheme must have significantly strengthened

measurable environmental results● Promote greater adoption of Collective Agri-environmental and Climate

Schemes● Current environmental schemes need stress/effectiveness testing

Other ElementsSelection criteria of the beneficiaries of RDP investments should be more:

• targeted to animal welfare• targeted to reduce environmental impacts

Non-productive investments must include habitat restoration

Other Elements (cont’d)

• Knowledge Transfer and Training options should also include targeted

biodiversity measures. Trainers must have ecological background

• Advisory services must have strong ecological and climate expertise

• Biodiversity measures must also be allowed in capital works budget.

• Encourage and make easier for LEADER to promote Climate Change, Water and

Biodiversity

• A protein plan? Like the rest of the EU to replace imported Soya

Farmers participating in training on habitat conditions important for waders as part of the BirdWatch Ireland Curlew EIP funded by DAFM

New RDP

● Need clear targets and quantifiable outcomes linked to specific measures.

● Need independent scientific assessment of the measures after a certain

number of years.

● Need the obligation to report their impacts when scientific assessments exist.

● Needs strategic planning ensuring coherence between the objective pursued

with certain measures of the RDPs and other policy instruments.

● The voluntary nature of measures and the limited available funds for them.

Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Framework

PMEF is set up at EU level with common elements, but it will need to be further adapted and developed in the specific Member States. Parallel development stream in EU

• Common objectives for both CAP Pillar I and II• Common indicators• Quantified targets and milestones• Data management and reporting activities• Incentive mechanisms to reward good performance and address deviations

from planned targets and milestones.

Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Framework

Best performing Member State gets more money a performance bonus for “good environment and climate bonus” (recital 76)

Member States need to address datagaps for some environmental indicators as identified by Commission in the AIRs 2019 (HNV farming, Farmland Bird Index, Water could be relevant to Ireland)

Our food system, biodiversity, climate, rivers and lakes is in our hands.

Lapwing chick by Paul Troake