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Minister Heydon announces opening of ACRES Landscape Actions

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, has confirmed that ACRES Landscape Actions are now open for applications from ACRES Co-operation teams for actions that will support farmers in the Co-operation approach of the Scheme to target specific environmental priorities. These are large-scale environmental actions focussing on issues such as threatened species, water quality protection, invasive species management and encroaching scrub management in species-rich grassland.

Making the announcement, the Minister said:

“I am pleased to announce that the Landscape Action element of the ACRES Co-operation approach is now available to ACRES participants in the eight ACRES high-priority environmental areas. This is an important feature of the ACRES scheme and a further step up in ambition on previous agri-environmental schemes.”

As Landscape Actions are larger scale complementary environmental actions compared to the Non-Productive Investments (NPIs), the ACRES Co-operation Project (CP) Teams will play a key role, through their direct engagement with ACRES Co-operation participants, in the efficient and effective targeting of Landscape Actions at landscape level in their respective ACRES Co-operation zones to address biodiversity restoration and water quality improvement as per the Local Action Plans.

Drawing attention to the draft list of Landscape Actions and associated draft specifications which are available on the Department’s website, the Minister said:

“The list of Landscape Actions and associated specifications are draft until such time as the public consultation process on the Appropriate Assessment, required under environmental legislation, of the Landscape Actions has been completed. That public consultation has now been launched, the details of which are also available on my Department’s website.”

Concluding his announcement, Minister Heydon added:

“While the application window for Landscape Actions opens today (18 July 2025), during the public consultation period, decisions on those applications will have to await the completion of the public consultation process. The application process is being made available in the meantime to enable the ACRES CP Teams to engage with the ACRES farmers in their areas and prepare applications in the form of a Landscape Action Annual Works Plan. I look forward to the positive engagement of those participants with the CP Teams, and to the effective deployment of the available funding of €50 million over the next three years to implement landscape actions, which will benefit the local environment while also contributing to improving the quality and score of their lands in the coming years, leading to an increased results-based core payment for the participants themselves.”

ENDS

Details of the Public Consultation on the Natura Impact Report in support of the Appropriate Assessment (AA) for Landscape Actions (LAs) to be made available under the Co-operation approach of the Agri-climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) are available on the Department's website.

Notes for Editor

  • The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is the agri-environment climate measure under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan for the period 2023-2027. The Scheme is jointly funded by the European Union and the National Exchequer.
  • There are two approaches within the Scheme:
  • ACRES General, available nationally (outside of the high priority geographical area as defined for the ACRES Co-operation approach below), which offers a range of measures (both prescription and result-based); and
  • ACRES Co-operation, available to farmers in defined high priority geographical areas. Map in Annex 1 of the ACRES Terms and Conditions for both Tranches shows the 8 ACRES Co-operation zones, with an ACRES Co-operation Project (CP) Team in place in each zone to assist the participants.
  • The Scheme has been rolled out on a phased basis, with Tranche 1 contracts commencing on 1 January 2023 for five years, and Tranche 2 contracts commencing on 1 January 2024, again for five years.
  • There are currently just under 54,000 farmers in ACRES, with just over 22,500 participating in the ACRES Co-operation approach.
  • The Non-Productive Investment (NPI) element of the ACRES Co-operation approach opened in November 2023 for the first window of applications and in October 2024 for the second window of applications. Decision letters have now issued for both sets of applications, after which participants could commence implementing approved NPIs.
  • Landscape Actions (LAs) are large scale complementary environmental actions that may be chosen by participants of the ACRES Co-operation approach only. A draft list of the LAs and associated specification are available on the Department’s website at Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) - Landscape Actions
  • Participants in the ACRES Co-operation approach will implement LAs considered best suited and beneficial to their holdings and local environment.

Amounts and numbers paid to date

  • As of 11 July 2025, a total of €513.2 million has been paid to ACRES participants, of which almost €264.35 million is in respect of participation in the Scheme in 2024, while over €248.7 million relates to participation in 2023.
  • A breakdown of the payments in respect of each year of the Scheme is available on the Department’s website at Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES), with this updated regularly as payments issue.