THREE Limerick farmers have gone back to nature to help produce a book on practical ways to create a more sustainable farming future.
The Farming For Nature handbook was launched on November 28 and is illustrated with beautiful watercolours and sketches.
With contributions from more than 50 Irish farmers, the book also shares farmers’ experiences of how working with nature can help reduce costs and improve incomes.
The three Limerick farmers who put pen to paper are Gearoid Maher of Kiluragh, Sean Condon of Crecora, and Thomas Stack, from Kilmallock.
While there is widespread awareness of the environmental damage caused by poor farming practices, the trio’s book in contrast attempts to highlight the positive ways farmers can sustain and enhance our natural environment, and benefit from the results.
The book was inspired by regular requests to the non-profit Farming For Nature project from landowners, farmers, smallholders, and growers wanting to learn how best to manage their land, big or small, in a way that enhances habitats, protects profits, and safeguards our natural environment and rural communities.
The Farming For Nature project was set up to support, encourage and inspire farmers who farm, or who wish to farm, in a way that will improve the natural health of our countryside.
The book was conceived and developed by Brigid Barry, researched and mainly written by conservation ecologist Dr Emma Hart on behalf of Farming For Nature, and co-edited by Dr Brendan Dunford of the Burrenbeo Trust.
It is beautifully illustrated with watercolours and sketches by farmer and artist Clive Bright as well as digital images by scientific illustrator William Helps.
The Handbook, published by Dingle Publishing, is available to order at farmingfornature.ie.
