Transcript Northern Ireland Biodiversity

Northern Ireland Biodiversity:
Farmland and the Impact of
Agriculture
(All Photographs from Northern Ireland Biodiversity Strategy Proposals June
1999. The Stationary Office Limited.)
• Farming is both the largest industry and the
major land use in N.Ireland
• Farmland habitats cover 67% of the total
land area
• Habitats can be divided into several broad
types based on the intensity of agricultural
practice :-
• Semi-natural grassland (5.7%) characterized
by non-intensive livestock grazing and mowing
• Species-rich habitat with > 30 flowering plant
species in a tiny patch of turf and abundance of
associated arthropods
The small blue
butterfly Cupido
minimus has declined
by 25% over the last
25 years.
• Hay meadow (0.4%) represents a traditional
non-intensive farming practice
• Habitat now largely replaced with silage
production
• 97% loss of hay meadow over the past 50 years
The Irish hare Lepus
timidus hibernicus is a
distinct subspecies of
the mountain hare
found only in Ireland.
• Arable, or cultivated, land (6.9%) is generally
used to produce vegetable or cereal crops
• Very widespread habitat in the past
• Today, mostly converted to improved grassland
and the remaining resource is typically intensively
managed
The corn bunting
Miliaria calandra is
now extinct in the
province. Last
recorded in N.Ireland
in the early 1980s.
• Improved grassland (87%) is a high input/
output,intensively managed habitat
• Formed from reclamation of semi-natural
grasslands, hay meadows and arable land
• Very low conservation interest
Flocks of whooper
and Bewick’s swans
that over winter in
N.Ireland largely
feed on improved
grassland
Current and Future Strategies for
Conservation
• Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform
1999
• The Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA)
scheme
• The Countryside Management Scheme
(CMS)
• The Organic Farming Scheme 1999
• Northern Ireland Biodiversity Group
(NIBG)
The Key to the Future of
Farmland Biodiversity
in N.Ireland
• Re-education of the farming community to
embrace more environmentally sound
management practices
• Implementation of the NIBG proposals
• Continued governmental support for current
and future agri-enviromental schemes