EU Biodiversity strategy 2030

Not really - the EU has already passed a law(last year) allowing fast tracking of renewable energy projects in "go to" areas that will already be accessed as environmentally suitable outside of any restoration law. The industry players against the restoration bill want to be given carte blanch to shoe horn them in where they like, including sensitive peatland sites and marine sites vital for fisheries, seabirds etc. Unfortunately the mis-information being pumped out on these matters could well bite back farmers in marginal areas in a few years when the CAP cake has to stretch much farther to accomodate EU Eastward expansion while the likes of the IFA and Copa Cogeaca ensure that industrial scale operators retain the bulk of their payments at the expense of folk on poorer land who were likely going to see increased payments via CAP to support the aims of the restoration law. Also the EPP are lying about lack of impact assesments as all EU proposals are subject to impact assessments prior to being put to the EU parliament votes

Myself and OH were talking about this rewetting of farms on drained peat land. What happens if a farmer has a loan/security on that land and it then becomes devalued due to rewetting. Does it open a potential door to give the two fingers to the bank and renege on the repayments.

No chance that there won't have been a personal guarentee included in the loan documentation.

I would have thought the same. The only reason that I ask is that there is a bit of land coming up for sale near us some of which (12-15 acres) maybe included in this rewetting scheme/mapped area. We're toying with having a go at buying it but know of another person who is actively interested in it. The other person has a history of "buying" land and then using every excuse under the sun to avoid paying for it yet manages to hold onto his portfolio iykwim.

Horseflies are out now too. It's a bit early I thought.

Yeah it's the lies really gets to me.😉

Noticed a big drop in bumblebees these last few years - seems to be a similar pattern across Western Europe and have seen recent reports on Twitter of clutches of insect eating birds like Flycatchers, Tit etc. completely failing this spring for lack of food with much comments that the likes of Butterfly, Moth, Hoverfly populations all apparently collapsing over the past 10 years over large parts of England and Wales. Combined with the likes of Spain and Italy now seeking emergency EU supports measures for their own farmers due to increasing issues with drought and general soil loss issues, its clear that "business as usual" is not going to end well for citizens or biodiversity over the coming years:(

Chris McManus indicates that changes adopted will be agreeable to farmers.

The same around here although I note that there aren't as many swallows nesting in the sheds as other years. Someone mentioned the lack of swallows last year but we had the same nests repaired and occupied. This time of the year the sky would be full of swallows and housmartins and in the early morning/dusk of the evening you'd hear/see them chattering on the telephone/esb wires but there isn't as many around this year. I checked some of the sheds to see if there was nests - the old turf shed always had three nests but only one now, the garage beside the old house has one nest where there was four other years, the old dairy still has two and the old tie up byre has new nest but no activity/repairs in the other two. Our only pair of housemartins returned about a week to 10 days earlier than the swallows this year for the first time as it's normally the other way around. I presume it's down to weather conditions in sub Saharan Africa.

People in North Africa catching them in nets is doing wreck.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2057978267/where-have-all-the-swallows-gone

Anything else?

Or is it only livestock farmers get your gripe?

Welcome into the "People who destroy the planet & Forestry" forum. You'll enjoy it, and maybe learn something

I've just re read your post, and you know, most of what you say is correct in many instances, but does not apply to many more. It seemed like you were an outsider having a dig when I read it first.

But just to bear in mind, every human who participates in our modern society is having a massive negative impact on the natural environment, locally and internationally.

I'm not defending mainstream agricultural systems, far from it, but they're a key part of our whole industrial system.

Energy consumption and emissions are constantly increasing from road use, air travel, data centres, construction, manufacturing and international trade, all driven by consumers, and so called sustainable foods are really in the last xx number of crops territory.

The trees have been cut down here for a thousand years, the Brits only finished the job off quickly for us.

So while my initial reply might seem snark to you, it actually is what sustainable living is about.

How do you see your lifestyle fitting in?

And you came in and attacked. Remember, farmers are doing what the regulations say, and following the best practice advice from advisory bodies and government. They have been doing so for many years. Surprisingly, when they weren't doing that you could raise a family and live a good, albeit tough, life on small marginal acres. Then things changed and it was N, then specialisation, then CAP, then beuracracy. That meant the old farming ways were replaced and farmers had to do more for less, while food prices plummetted and exports rocketed. But now the narrative is farmers are a law onto themselves and must be curtailed, ignoring the fact they are one of the most regulated and public private industires there are. How many other individuals get there name printed in all and sundry showing what payments they received from goverenment?

I was going to write about the EPA report yesterday but @Say my name covered it. Though he left out the recent news about water quality impprovements in Cork which happened alongside an increase in dairy numbers. Ya see what can happen when people with know how, with some finance, work with the the farmers and land owners. Instead it seems they'd rather pay a pittance and cull cows instead of actually doing something constructive.

From my point of view, the whole climate and environment circus isn't driven by people who are really into that, but by people who see animal farming as terrible and the worse thing humans can be doing and it must be ended.

Finally, cow/animal numbers in this country are relatively static for many years. But emissions overall go up? Why is that? Hardly more cars on the road? More electricity requirements? More waste? More people???