burren LIFE

Farming for Conservation
in the Burren

News & Events

13/12/2011
BFCP features on Eco-Eye
16/12/2011
BurrenLIFE - Best of the Best
13/12/2011
Burren LIFE - BFCP??
13/12/2011
BFCP Update Year 2
09/11/2011
The Burren Community Charter
15/02/2011
BFCP Workers Database Now Available
26/05/2011
BurrenLIFE voted ‘Best of the Best’
05/05/2011
Michael Viney - Farming for Conservation
05/05/2011
BFCP Year 1 Report
14/03/2011
Burren farmers get €300,000 for flowers

Overview

In April 2010 the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith, TD, launched the Burren Farming for Conservation Programme (BFCP).

The BFCP is a joint initiative between the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF) and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. DAFF will provide the funding to support the participating farmers, the Programme will be administered by the NPWS from the former BurrenLIFE Project offices in Carron.

The BFCP is fundamentally an environmental programme, which targets the delivery of a range of environmental benefits, in particular the production of species-rich limestone grasslands and the improvement of water quality. The Programme aims to support high environmental value farming in the Burren, continuing and mainstreaming the findings of the BurrenLIFE Project (2005-2010). The Programme is a voluntary one and is open to all farmers, who farm in the Burren region in north Clare and south Galway.

A total of 117 places have been allocated under Year 1 (2010) of the BFCP, with and additional 26 places allocated in Year 2 (2011). As almost 350 farmers applied for entry into the BFCP in May 2010, all applicants had to be scored on environmental criteria – see section on ‘Application’ below.

The BFCP team is composed of Dr Brendan Dunford, Dr Sharon Parr and Dr Bryony Williams. The team can be contacted at The Old Schoolhouse, Carron, Co Clare, 065 7089000, info@burrenlife.com