The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) provides funding directly to Burren Programme participants (farmers) and covers most of the running costs of the local team based in Carron.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht contributes towards office overheads for the Carron office.
The Burren Programme also enjoys the strong support of the Burren branch of the Irish Farmers Association (Burren IFA) and Teagasc, both of which were centrally involved in the original BurrenLIFE project, and from a range of other stakeholders including The Heritage Council and The National Monuments Service of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which co-funds the Clare Field Monuments Advisor.
Our Team
The administration of the Burren Programme is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and delivered under contract by High Nature Value Services (HNVS) Ltd, the directors of which are Dr Brendan Dunford, Dr Sharon Parr and Dr Bryony Williams. Their main roles include:
The Programme team also includes:
We wish to take this opportunity to thank former team member of the Burren Programme, Lynda Weekes, for all her hard work and contribution.
The BP Team is based in Carron in the centre of the Burren and supports BP farmers (and other farmers in the Burren and beyond) directly through office or site visits, phone communications and training, and indirectly via their farm advisors.
Farm Advisors
Central to the success of the Burren Programme is the cohort of trained farm advisors. A panel of DAFM-approved trained advisors has been drawn up for the purposes of the Programme and is available here or through the Burren Programme office in Carron. These trained advisors have undergone intensive training and must participate in annual refresher courses on farming for conservation in the Burren. Participants in the Burren Programme can select from this panel of advisors.
The farmer must pay for the services of his/her Burren Programme Advisor.
Trained advisors liaise with farmers, conduct farm audits and assemble farm plans. This entails working closely with the farmer and advising on priority tasks, and where, how and when they should be done. The trained advisor also assesses grazed habitats on the farm which are eligible under Intervention 1 (I-1) and award them a score using standardised methodologies and an Excel-based ‘I-1 calculator’. The trained advisor works closely with the Burren Programme Team and the farmer, and farm plans, actions and scores will be cross-checked by the Team. The trained advisor also signs a declaration on the finalised farm plan to confirm that they have fully briefed the farmer on its contents.