Senator Pippa Hackett, Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has congratulated the MacGillycuddy Reeks EIP project on receiving a major international reward. The project has been named Runner-Up as part of the International 2020-2021 UIAA Mountain Protection Award. The project is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine as part of Ireland’s Rural Development Programme 2014-2020.
The project was selected for the award from a total of 24 projects in more than 30 countries and on six continents.
Commenting the Minister said: “I want to congratulate Patricia Deane and her team at the South Kerry Development Partnership on receiving this prestigious international award. I understand they beat off stiff competition from over 30 countries. This is recognition for the innovation and hard work of the team and I am particularly delighted that my Department has helped make this happen by funding this project under our locally-led EIP initiative. It’s also of course recognition of the collaborative approach behind this project involved and everybody involved from the – Operational Group, Reeks Forum, the farmers, local collective groups and communities should be extremely. This should be a source of great pride for South Kerry”.
Further Information
The MacGillycuddy Reeks EIP Project is a European Innovation Partnership (EIP) co-funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (DAFM) under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. The funding is €950,000. It is a locally-led agri-environmental project focussing on developing innovative actions for High Nature Value Farming (HNV) in the MacGillycuddy Reeks.
The MacGillicuddy Reeks Project aims to improve sustainability, the economic viability of farming through practical, achievable actions & innovative solutions to address issues & to protect biodiversity in this Natura 2000 area:
- Empowering landowners to continue upland farming through development of sustainable agricultural management practices,
- Develop, with landowners, innovative management interventions for the preservation, restoration and enhancement of upland habitats;
- Create positive outreach programme and to prevent further habitat damage due to increasing recreational pressures through the formation of a landowner ranger system,
- Improve the conservation status of Annex I habitats.
