Cap deal needs to support farming that helps nature

'Support Farming to Support Nature" has been the mantra of environmental NGO BirdWatch Ireland and its global partnership, BirdLife International. Our concern is that negotiations taking place now for a new European policy that will shape the landscape and environment we live in risk taking us backwards rather than forwards in delivering food that doesn't damage the ecological systems we depend on for water, nature and a range of public benefits. The huge amount of public funding associated with this policy needs to bring better value for money.

Ireland is rapidly losing some of our most iconic farmland birds as nature is increasingly under threat from changes in farming. The reform of the European Common Agricultural Policy (Cap) promised to do more to save treasured landscapes and wildlife and, in doing so, justify the huge public cost of the policy.

However, pressure from powerful farm lobby groups is taking the reform in a direction which will instead continue to hand out most of the annual €53 billion Cap budget to the larger and more intensive farms rather than benefiting smaller farms and ecologically friendly production. Ireland, hosting the presidency of the EU, is playing a key role in this debate at the moment.

In recent decades, we have drastically changed the way we farm. There has been a 50 per cent decline in farmland bird populations across Europe; in Ireland, many previously common farmland birds have suffered major population and range declines since the 1970s.

Many of these declines are a direct result of recent changes in farming systems, incentivised by payments under the Cap. Breeding Curlew, for example, once common across Ireland, has seen its populations fall by 90 per cent. Populations of other familiar and wonderful farmland birds such as lapwing, redshank and snipe, also dependent on sensitive farming, are also collapsing across Ireland.

This is not an issue just for those interested in nature; birds are indicators of health of natural environment, like the canary in the coalmine. It is the natural environment upon which productivity, among other things, depends. Current market failures relate to declin- ing health of the environment and it is this area which is most in need of public support through publicly-funded policy.

Farmed semi-natural grasslands, such as upland pastures and lowland hay meadows, are rich in birds, pollinating insects and cultural heritage. They also depend on sensitive farming. These habitats are very different to the intensively-managed and heavily-fertilised grasslands that now dominate many agricultural landscapes.

Intensive farming
Low-input semi-natural pastures and meadows are threatened and in decline. They are often part of farming systems which generate lower income from the market than other more intensive farming systems. These nature-rich farming systems need to be supported if they are to be saved from abandonment or intensification. Maintaining nature-friendly farming in these areas would be better both for these farmers and for nature. However, current proposals risk cutting off support to environmentally valuable farming systems.

Aside from the need to support marginal farming systems to support nature, the majority of farming across Europe is intensive. The proposals to make these systems more environmentally friendly are also under attack.

The payments that we give to these bigger farm businesses should not only ensure that intensive farming is less damaging to the environment, reducing water pollution and pesticide use, for example, but some of the proposals should help them to be actually good for the environment.

Yet in recent months, during the Irish presidency, many changes have been made which will, if implemented, undo any of the positive advances of the original reform proposals. Positive solutions which are still on the table could help to address the mounting challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change.

Yet there are major concerns that in the coming weeks of negotiations, with the big agri-business lobby shadowing the talks, the elements introduced to reverse the environmental degradation of the past risk being so watered down as to become ineffective. Will the Irish presidency bow to pressure to roll back on proposals which will make the Cap better for most farmers and better for nature?

Meaningful reform
Irish agriculture plays a key role in targets for economic recovery and future prosperity. There is a growing market demand for sustainably- produced agricultural goods, and this opportunity is being seized upon by industry leaders trying hard to sell an image of Ireland where farming is in harmony with nature.

Without a meaningful reform of the Cap, we will not be able to support farmers to reverse declines of farmland birds and restore biodiverse farmland habitats. We will, in other words, not be able to stand over these claims. Instead we will accelerate habitat loss and species extinctions. Is this legacy of taking the reform backwards what the Irish presidency wishes for?

If the Cap is to do anything to help farmers maintain valuable ecosystems, and build a reputation for sustainable production, the Irish presidency must back the proposals which give meaningful incentives and supports for sustainable farming practices. Ambition is not optional.

Anja Murray works on land use policy for BirdWatch Ireland