Action sought to keep farmers on the Burren

The Burren, Co Clare, is "facing an insidious decline leading to a neglected landscape bereft of people" unless legislators take a number of radical measures.

That is one of the conclusions in the unpublished first report of the Burren Consultative Committee established by the Minister for Arts and Heritage, Ms de Valera, in March 1999.

Made up of representatives from a range of interest groups from the Burren, Clare County Council and Shannon Development, the committee has submitted its first report to the Minister. It deals with the environment, farming, the built heritage and folklore in the Burren.

The contentious issue of policies relating to the Burren National Park has been set aside and is to be reported on at a later date.

However, the committee feels that to avoid a neglected landscape bereft of people, legislators must forge links between conservation and agriculture, put in place properly funded research, educational and multifunctional agriculture programmes for the benefit of farmers, communities and the environment.

Expressing frustration with EU and Government legislation, it states: "The precarious state of farming and the area-specific problems that daily confront farmers are not widely understood by legislators for the Burren, whether they be in Brussels or Dublin, nor are they appreciated by some conservationists."

In particular, the report criticises the manner in which large tracts of the Burren have been designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). It says many farmers are bewildered and angered "by the lack of proper consultation before their lands were lumbered with an SAC categorisation".

It states that when conservation and farming are being discussed "farmers are included as a token afterthought".

It adds "that the need for on the ground consultation is not appreciated because other people approach this rare and beautiful place with a preconceived set of ideas. Whilst the conservation agenda is widely trumpeted, very little understanding exists of the farming one".

Welcoming the Minister's initiative in setting up the committee as a first step, the report adds that "from now on, consultation will not be enough".