Farming for Nature

Awards

NOMINATIONS CLOSED FOR 2018

Please email info@farmingfornature.ie if you would like to be informed when the 2019 nominations are opened.

Background

The main purpose of the National Farming for Nature Award 2018 is unearth and showcase the many stories across Ireland of farmers who are doing great things on their farm for nature. We want to shape a richer and more positive narrative around farming and nature – while not for a moment ignoring the many problems and challenges that do exist. We want other farmers to know that farming for nature is something that society does value and appreciate, and that it is not inconsistent with being a good, progressive farmer.

We also want to publicly acknowledge a few of these farmers and thank them for their work – hence the ‘Award’ which will be presented on Saturday October 27th next.

The key supporters of the 2018 awards are Bord Bia under the Origin Green programme.  A smaller contribution towards coordination has been received from the National Rural Network.

As this is the first year of what we hope will be an annual Award, we are proposing the following methodology.

What is the plan:

  • we will invite nominations from over 100 Nature professionals (see below) across Ireland
  • we will follow up on all nominations and identify 10 stories among them
  • we will then ask our judges to visit 10 farms and select 5 of them
  • a 5-min film will be made on each of these 5 farms
  • a public vote will take place to decide on their favourite story
  • all 5 farm families will be invited to our Awards night when the winner will be announced.

Who is to nominate:

Nominations will be sought from relevant individuals, including, but not limited to, those working within the following organisations

  • The National Parks and Wildlife Service (eg Field and Research Staff)
  • The Heritage Council (e.g. Heritage Officers)
  • Research organisations (e.g. Teagasc, Third level colleges, NBDC)
  • EIP, EU LIFE, INTERREG and other relevant Projects in the ROI
  • The Environmental Pillar and other National Network
  • The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
We may have forgotten to include you on our list – apologies if so – but if you are working professionally within the biodiversity sector and wish to be included in our Nominator list, please contact info@farmingfornature.ie

Nominated farmers should:

  • Have made a significant contribution to the protection or enhancement of nature on their farm and/or in their locality.
  • Be farming in a manner that is agriculturally, economically and socially progressive.
  • Have shared their passion with others (eg through walks, local media etc).
  • Have a record of engagement with other stakeholders.

How to nominate:

  • Think about a farmer who you feel would best fit the above criteria
  • Contact the farmer to let him/her know that you would like to nominate them.
  • Send us on a short description of the farm and the farmers, as well as some photos.
  • Complete a simple nomination form (see link below).The below link has a sample nomination form so you can see what is needed.

What happens then – and when!

  • All nominations will be acknowledged and then screened for completeness (by August 10th)
  • With the permission of the nominator some of the nominated farms/stories will be posted online.
  • The farmer will be contacted by the team for a quick chat to ’round out’ the nomination (by August 15th).
  • The 10 farms who we feel best fit the criteria will be visited by our judging panel (by August 31st).
  • These will then be further shortlisted to 5 farms and a short film created on each (by Sept 30th).
  • These films will be posted on-line and publicised, and an online voting system will be opened to allow the public to select their favourite farm/story (by Oct 26th).
  • The finalist will be announced at an awards ceremony on the 27th October, 2018 in Kinvara, Co. Galway as part of the Burren Winterage School.
Please remember, these awards are being organised on a mainly voluntary basis in order to share more positive and inspiring stories around farming and nature. We hope to further develop our nomination, screening and awards processes in future years based on our experience with this year’s event.

 

  

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