The future of the Burren and its people can only be guaranteed if the area's farmers fulfil their role as custodians of the countryside through identifying a new dynamic in approaches to farming for the area.
That is one of the findings of a new study of the impact farming practices are having on the 360 sq km Burren, one of Europe's most important and distinctive habitats.
Its author, Mr Brendan Dunford, argues that the decline of farming in the Burren and its associated traditions will greatly devalue its conservation importance unless solutions are found.
Published by Teagasc, the farming advisory body, Farming and the Burren reports that since 1970 there has been a combined drop of 64 per cent in the number of farmers farming 75 per cent of the Burren.
Teagasc's director, Mr Jim Flanagan, says: "The balance that evolved between farming activity and the environment of the Burren over many millennia is being threatened by the rate and scale of recent changes" in agriculture.
He said: "Sustainable solutions to redress this balance must now be found, and these solutions must be acceptable to both farmers and conservationists."
In the study, Mr Dunford says: "There remains a critical lack of awareness among young farmers of the resource that they are being paid to protect, of its significance and of the subtleties involved in its management."
Mr Dunford has spent the past five years studying the relationship between the heritage of the Burren and farming communities. In the 110-page study, he writes: "Where environmental concerns are increasingly taking precedence over the agricultural produce generated, farmers will need to re-evaluate their farm systems and redeploy their expertise accordingly."
Mr Dunford believes tourism "has so far failed to deliver on its enormous potential in the region, as reflected in the dramatic gap between the percentage of farmers who host tourists on their land and those who benefit in any way".
