The leader of an Irish farm organisation has called a move by Irish government ministers to secure the adoption of the Nature Restoration Law (NRL), “ill-judged”.
Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications – has written to his environment counterparts in other member states to call on them to vote for the law at their next meeting on June 17, with Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage Malcolm Noonan also contributing to the letter.
The letter claims that the failure to approve the law would mean “the EU [reneging] on its previous commitment to be a global leader in nature restoration”.
President of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), Francie Gorman said:
“I met Minister Malcolm Noonan last week and made it clear that farmers would continue to participate in schemes to improve biodiversity, but we are completely opposed to the proposed EU Nature Restoration Law on a number of fronts.
“Firstly, dealing with this issue through a law is wrong. We are told it will all be voluntary, but that is not consistent with introducing a legal requirement,” he said.
“Secondly, it is important that those farming within Natura 2000 sites are not over burdened with the requirements to restore habitats and that agricultural activity in these areas, specifically those referenced in Article 4 of the document, is allowed to continue.
“Finally, there needs to be proper funding and a full impact assessment completed. These are essential, but they are still outstanding.
“The reason the law has been held up is because a number of member states are now unsure about various aspects of the law. The EU and Minister Ryan would have been far better off engaging directly with farmers and looking to deal with this through incentives, rather than bringing in a flawed law,” he continued.
The controversial law was adopted by the European Parliament in February and it was expected the the Council of the EU (council of ministers) would do the same in March, in what would have been the final hurdle for the law to pass before it was enacted.
However, after a number of member states changed their position, no vote took place in the council of environment ministers as it was clear that the required qualified majority for the law to be adopted would not be reached.
The text of the NRL sets targets to restore 30% of drained peatlands under agricultural use by 2030, 40% by 2040 and 50% by 2050. Drained peatland under agricultural use is just one of the land types on which “restoration measures” will be required.
Following the lack of movement by the council, the NRL has been in limbo, with no sign yet that there will be any further progress on it this side of the European Parliament elections in June.