Farmers in Co Kerry stand to earn up to €4,500 a year in annual payments to dig shallow ponds to help protect the threatened natterjack toad, Ireland's only toad species.
The toad is now only found in Castlemaine harbour, the Castlegregory/Fermoyle areas of the Dingle peninsula and in isolated sites near Caherdaniel on the Iveragh peninsula.
Under a five-year scheme to restore habitats and boost toad numbers, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, are offering farmers €500 per pond.
About two ponds per hectare will be needed, with bonus payments if more hectares are involved. This means farmers could potentially earn up to €4,500 a year for the ponds.
Pat Foley, deputy regional manager of the NPWS, said farmers don't need to be in the REPS (Rural Environmental Protection Scheme) to be eligible to apply for the scheme, although they will have to follow a plan. He expects about 100 Kerry farmers to participate.
Site visits are being arranged by the NPWS. The scheme will be planned with both a wildlife ranger and NPWS planner.
Mr Foley said natterjacks need ponds that are clear of vegetation. Such ponds should not dry up in the summer. It is also vital they don't support other frogs and predators such as dragonfly larvae. Therefore, a certain amount of management of the ponds is required.
The vegetation will have to be cleared by hand as no herbicides are allowed under the scheme. Rushes too must be kept down, and mowing or topping must be confined to the months between September and March.
Tree-planting is not permitted, and any application of slurry and all other fertilisers must be outside of a 30m (98ft) radius.
The nature of the area surrounding the pond is also important, with grazing land or meadow ideal, said Mr Foley. Farmers will be required to dig the 50sq m pond in year one.
They will be advised to leave rocks or rotting logs near the pond to attract the toads - they like to sleep under these during the day. The digging of the shallow holes to a maximum depth of one metre (3ft 3in) will be supervised by rangers.
Once common all around the coast of Kerry, the natterjack population plummeted in the last century.
Toad file: key facts
The natterjack comes to life at night and his voice is among the loudest animal noises in Europe
Unlike the frog, natterjacks run rather than hop.
Natterjacks hibernate in burrows all winter and the spawning season begins in mid-April.
The pond with the most males attracts the females.