The Irish Natura & Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) have called on Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O Sullivan to clarify ongoing miss-information relating to the suggestion that the State has the necessary land to deliver on our obligations under the Nature Restoration Law (NRL).
INHFA President Vincent Roddy outlined how public representatives and some media sources continue to push the narrative that the State can deliver the necessary land to meet all our obligations and this is clearly not true.
This narrative is, stated Roddy “clear miss-direction because, the State obligation they are referring to, only what relates to commitments for rewetting detailed under Article 11 of the NRL and will include approximately 100,000ha.”
While this is helpful, we must, Roddy added, “understand that it is a tiny element in the overall land area (and commitments) required, under a law that will impact at least 1.6million hectares of land.”
As representative organisations including the INHFA engage in a process to develop a national restoration plan, the INHFA leader stressed the need for honesty before adding how “starting this process on a lie as obvious as this is a major red flag and does get you wondering what else is being spun, lied about or withheld.”
In relation to the Article 11 lands that could be rewetted Roddy, further clarified that “while the State may have enough lands to meet our rewetting obligations, farmland covered under this Article may also be subject to Article 4 regulations that covers restoration of existing habitats and re-establishment of lost habitats.”
This he added “was a point conceded by NPWS staff when we questioned them.”
In concluding the INHFA President detailed how “farmers, landowners and rural communities continue to be misled through clever manipulation into believing that there isn’t a direct threat to their property.” It is he continued “time that the Minister publically clarifies, that the State has not near enough land to meet all the obligations that will be required through the NRL.