The Sustainable Upland Agri-environment Scheme (SUAS) EIP-AGRI project was the topic of the January 14th Signpost Series webinar. Pat Murphy, Head of Environment Knowledge Transfer Department, Teagasc was joined by Declan Byrne, SUAS Project Manager to discuss lessons from SUAS on future uplands management.
SUAS is a five year, locally led project which aims to develop practical and sustainable solutions to address the complex agricultural, environmental and economic challenges associated with the land management of commonages and farms in the Dublin/Wicklow uplands.
The Signpost Series webinar presented some of the key learnings from the SUAS project to date, including that payments for actions alone has not provided an adequate incentive for farmer participation, farmers have tended to take on actions that favour production rather than habitat improvement and that grazing management is complicated and can take time to alter.Also discussed were the project’s emergent challenges, such as uncontrolled burning, bracken and gorse control, erosion, and what actions to take for areas that cannot be restored.
The full webinar is available in podcast form here.
More information about the SUAS Project can be found here.
The Signpost Series is a series of weekly webinars hosted by the National Rural Network in association with Teagasc ConnectED, Dairy Sustainability Ireland, and Food Drinks Ireland Skillnet. The webinars are focused on sustainable agriculture and ‘pointing the way to a low emissions agriculture’. More information on upcoming webinars and how to attend is available here.
