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Farming for Nature farm walks: The BRIDE Project, Cork

The BRIDE Project (Biodiversity Regeneration In a Dairying Environment) is an innovative agri-environment project based in the River Bride catchment of north-east County Cork and west Waterford, Ireland. The project is co-funded by the European Union and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine through the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) funding initiative and the project will operate through the period 2018- 2023. The Project aims to design and implement a results-based approach to conserve, enhance and restore habitats in lowland intensive farmland.

An innovative feature of the BRIDE Project is the landscape-scale approach to biodiversity whereby groups of farmers in a given area will be encouraged to implement a range of habitat improvement measures. This combined, community-based effort is an entirely new approach to environmental management compared to the randomised process of selection in previous agri-environment schemes. Another innovative aspect is the use of a results-based payment scheme where farmers will have each habitat on their farm assessed and scored, with higher quality habitats gaining higher payments.

Donal Sheehan explains his 2 metre field margins during the Farming for nature
farm walk.

In May 2019 there was a great turnout of over forty people at their Farming for Nature farm walk where participants were given an update on the project to date and habitat management measures were explained:

Treelines
Ponds
Field margins
Multi-species grassland
Bird and bat boxes
Rodenticide alternatives

Sometimes, simple measures are best: an exposed vertical bank made by simply
using a shovel has made an ideal solitary bee habitat.

A picture speaks a thousand words – and seeing the BRIDE Project measures in a farming environment not only demonstrates the practical side of the measures but immerses you into what can be achieved on your farm as a whole when biodiversity is improved.

Learn more:

www.thebrideproject.ie

The BRIDE Project’s bird, bat and owl boxes.

About author

EPA Catchments Unit

Administrator

The EPA Catchments Unit is based in Dublin, and the team is involved with catchment science, chemistry, ecology, hydromorphology, modelling, Geographic Information Systems and planning. We work with the wider EPA, all of our local authorities, the Local Authority Waters and Communities Office, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and other public bodies and Departments to ensure we have the best available data and information about our catchments.

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