AQW 1521/22-27
Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim
Tabled Date: 15/06/2022
Answered On Date: 06/07/2022
Priority Written: No
Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to halt land degradation in Northern Ireland.
Answer:
I recognise the environmental challenges that need to be tackled in Northern Ireland range from deteriorating water and air quality, habitat and biodiversity loss and fragmentation, to the wide-ranging impacts of climate change. Many of our peatlands have been damaged to some degree, are in poor condition, and require more sustainable management and restoration. Climate change is a significant, but as yet unquantified, threat. The great majority of natural habitats in Northern Ireland remain in unfavourable condition, although underlying trends are more positive as a result of targeted conservation actions. My Department currently operates controls to discourage and prevent land degradation via Statutory Management Requirement 3 of the Northern Ireland Cross-Compliance Verifiable Standards and the Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition Standards including the Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) Regulations 2007 (NI). Furthermore, the voluntary Environmental Farming Scheme offers farmers annual payments to manage our most important habitats, including peatlands, in a favourable way with over 60,000 ha currently under agreement with 1280 farm business. My Department opened the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme (SNHS) to farmers in the first (Zone 1) of four zones on 27 May 2022. This innovative and forward looking scheme represents an investment of up to £45m and is being rolled out in stages to farmers across Northern Ireland over the next four years. The SNHS will provide farmers with individualised baseline data of nutrient levels at field scale, as well as baseline estimates of carbon stocks in their farmed soils and above ground biomass. This information will help farmers manage carbon, nutrients applications, reduce excess run-off to watercourses and improve soil health. In March, I announced 54 decisions that define future agricultural policy. These policy decisions will be followed, as soon as possible, with new policies and systems to ensure that we will have a future sustainable agricultural industry. There is significant potential for farmers and land managers to make vital positive contributions to tackling environmental impacts across the board. Within my policy decisions I committed that my Department will also undertake the development of a future land use policy during the next mandate.
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