On September 1st, 2021, the Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D., announced that payments under the Green Low-carbon Agri-environmental Scheme (GLAS) have exceeded €1 billion.
The GLAS scheme has been embraced by almost 50,000 farmers, delivering a mix of over 30 actions designed to benefit biodiversity, climate change mitigation, and improve water quality.
Some key environmental measures achieved through GLAS
GLAS farmers manage:
- 250,000 ha of Low Input Permanent Pasture,
- 60,000 ha of Traditional Hay Meadows, and
- Protect 14,000km of watercourses from the entry of livestock.
- Over 228,000 ha of commonage is managed and appropriately grazed.
- Rare breed populations are preserved and protected, and
- Bird, Bee, and Bat habitats were created and protected.
GLAS farmers received up to €5,000 per year under the scheme or up to €7,000, where the farmer could provide exceptional environmental returns. GLAS was funded under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 and has been extended by one year to 2021, under the CAP transition.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is currently developing Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) for 2023 – 2027. The CSP will incorporate interventions under Pillar I (Direct Payments and Sectorial Interventions) and Pillar II (Rural Development) and build on the progress made in previous programming periods.
More information on GLAS and CAP Strategic Plan here.
Source: NRN & DAFM
