Plans for a new agri-environment scheme for the Burren in Co Clare are to come into operation from next year.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney, TD, said he was delighted to note the progress being made on the development of a new Burren Scheme, which will offer new five-year contracts to conservation-conscious farmers in the region.

Minister Coveney said: "These new schemes are designed to complement the more broadly-based GLAS and GLAS+ measures and will be aimed at supporting local solutions to specific environmental problems.

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"With GLAS now bedding-down, I am determined to move this process forward as quickly as possible. The Locally-led approach offers a novel and innovative way of involving local communities and brings a new and exciting element to bear on agri-environment schemes."

The new scheme, which is being introduced under a proposed new Locally-led Measure of the RDP, will focus specifically on the conservation of the unique farming landscape of the Burren in counties Clare and Galway and builds on the success and experience of similar schemes piloted under the Burren LIFE Project (2005-2010) and the Burren Farming for Conservation Programme (2011-2015).

(CD)