burren LIFE

BurrenLIFE Socio Economic Report
BurrenLIFE project commissioned a research group based in NUI Galway to determine the socio economic implications of adopting farming for conservation practices across the wider Burren. A major finding of the report was the public’s willingness to pay farmers to maintain the landscape and biodiversity values of their farms.

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Risk of Nutrient Export Model
BurrenLIFE Project commissioned Hydro-G to evaluate the groundwater and hydrogeological aspects of the BurrenLIFE project. The entire area of the Burren is deemed as ‘vulnerable’ in hydrogeological language. The research found that many farm fields in the study do not have nutrient inputs that exceed the requirements of the animals and grass growth. Areas at risk are those subject to point sources of contamination such as round feeders for silage, animals having access to streams and springs. Therefore the BurrenLIFE ‘Farming for Conservation’ model of supplementary feeding is deemed to form a component of an appropriate protection strategy for groundwater protection in the Burren.

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Burren Marketing and Branding Study
This study was commissioned by BurrenLIFE to examine the possibility of developing a brand name for produce from the Burren with a view to improving the incomes of farmers in the region. This was done with a view to improving the viability of the farming community as a whole in the area.

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Forage quality of semi natural calcareous grasslands and heaths of the Burren
This paper aims to answer three questions:
1. What is the forage quality of the calcareous grasslands and heaths of the Burren?
2. Are there variations in forage quality during the main grazing seasons of late Summer and Winter?
3. Does the forage quality meet the nutritional requirements of the suckler cow, which is the most prevalent livestock type grazing these areas?

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