Enhance Biodiversity
The Biodiversity pillar is centred on reversing the decline in farmland biodiversity and identifying effective measures to enhance it. Biodiversity plays a vital and complementary role in nature-based solutions, contributing to key areas such as climate regulation, water quality, carbon sequestration, and flood mitigation.
As global markets place increasing emphasis on environmental sustainability, the reputation of agri-food products will increasingly depend on demonstrable progress in biodiversity conservation. Advancing this agenda requires robust research to improve the assessment of habitat quantity and quality across agricultural systems. In particular, there is a need to establish reliable baselines for monitoring biodiversity trends, especially in non-designated or less-studied areas.
Priority Research Questions
- How can KPIs and digital tools be used to aid farm-scale assessments of biodiversity that include farmland wildlife?
- How can the environmental effectiveness and economic efficiency of management plans for High Nature Value farming and forestry systems (including upland areas) be improved?
- What is the relationship between habitat diversity and quality and ecosystem function within agricultural systems?
- What measures can improve biodiversity within existing low nature value forests?
- What are the best indicators to evaluate the current biological health of Irish soils?
Anticipated Research Outcomes
- Enhanced biodiversity in agricultural systems across a gradient of intensities and enterprises.
- Biodiversity assessments included in the National Farm Survey to give representative information on quantity and quality of farmland habitats over time.
- Establishment of a national soil biodiversity baseline and soil health indicators to support the implementation of the EU Soil Health Regulation.
- New digital technologies developed to assess the quantity and quality of biodiversity at farm level.
Daire Ó hUallacháin
Biodiversity Pillar Lead
Research Snapshots
Farming and Biodiversity National Network
The three-year Farmer-focused Biodiversity and Agricultural Knowledge Network (FarmBioNet) Horizon project launched in January 2025. FarmBioNet aims to help farmers and foresters to provide habitats for biodiversity on their land. A core activity is the creation of Farming and Biodiversity National Networks (FaB NNs), consisting of farmers, foresters, researchers, NGOs, advisors, policymakers and other relevant Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) actors. Read more about FarmBioNet