Leitrim farmer Seamus Cornyn has offered the use of his farm as a showcase to show other farmers how they can be paid for certain environmental actions on their farms.

Over the weekend, Cornyn created small shallow ponds known as 'wader scrapes' with the support of the Breeding Waders EIP and the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) Breifne Co-operation (CP) team on the shores of Lough Allen, near Dowra.

“In years gone by, the curlew would have been a common sight on the farm,” Cornyn said. “While we still see snipe here, it would be brilliant to hear the call of the curlew again. The scrapes are something simple that might help and I can continue to have the cattle grazing the field as I always have,” he said.

Along with other farmland birds, the populations of breeding waders such as curlew and snipe have been declining rapidly across the country in recent decades. Both species are now considered red listed in Ireland, meaning they have suffered declines of over 50% in the last 20 years.

Invertebrates

Wader scrapes are small, shallow ponds that provide feeding opportunities for farmland birds such as curlew and snipe by supporting the invertebrates that they eat. Wading birds need access to soft mud that they can probe with their beaks to find food, and such landscape features are becoming increasingly rare due to more frequent summer droughts and the drainage of land, the ACRES team said.

Wader scrapes are available to participants of ACRES CP stream as a non-productive investment (NPI) action at a payment rate of €265.28 per scrape.

Lack of understanding

“Unfortunately, the application rate to create wader scrapes has been low in ACRES Breifne CP so far, and it has been clear from chatting to participants that one of the main reasons for this is the lack of understanding around what is involved in the action,” said Clodagh Helen, ACRES Breifne CP team leader.

“From our perspective, having somewhere local to bring farmers to see wader scrapes is critical in encouraging more participants to take up this valuable action,” she said.

As the site is located close to a priority area for the Breeding Waders EIP, a collaborative approach was taken so that participants of both schemes can access the site for demonstration events.

“Wader scrapes are one of the habitat enhancements we use to support nesting birds and chicks. The gentle slopes and shallow ponds created by these scrapes offer accessible food and water. We are pleased to partner with the ACRES Breifne’s co-operation team, and we extend our gratitude to Seamus for allowing use of his farm for demonstration purposes,” said Eoin Murphy, programme director of the Breeding Waders, EIP.