Launch date: December 2024
Pre-order your copy now and
get the early bird discount!
The Farming For Nature Handbook was inspired by the regular requests we received here at Farming For Nature from people wanting to learn how best to manage their land, big or small, in a way that enhances habitats, increases wildlife, harnesses natural processes, protects profits, and safeguards our natural environment and rural communities for future generations.
With over 76,000 words and stunning illustrations, this handbook is designed to help guide users who want to ‘farm for nature’. Each of the 12 chapters contains ‘top tips’ from farmers with decades of experience in farming for nature, as well as management recommendations based on extensive research. This book will guide and inspire you on your farming for nature journey, regardless of your farm size, enterprise type, or starting point.
We are really excited, the book is now completed and in the preproduction phase, your pre-order can help get the publication over the line and you can be one of the first to have it in your hands!
Choose one of the following and we will deliver this beautifully illustrated hardback book straight to your door in time for Christmas!
Options:
(€25) EARLY BIRD Pre-order and €30 after 1st October
(€50) Get one gift one Get one and gift one to a family member, friend or a neighbour. Both get sent to you.
(€240) Get a bundle Are you a small book shop, farm advisor, or just really like reading 😉. Get a bundle of these books (12 copies) for your own distribution at this discounted price.
Farming For Nature Handbook
Purchase Orders. We can set up POs for orders over 25 copies at €20 a copy. Please contact [email protected] directly to organise this. Thanks.
Book Reviews
What our reviewers say (so far!):
An invaluable resource for the rapidly growing community who are discovering that farming with nature is the only way forward.
Darina Allen, food journalist & advocate, Ballymaloe Cookery School & Organic Farm
Imagine if there was one single book that could address the incredibly complex issue of converting our current agricultural enterprises towards a more nature-sympathetic way? This is it. Genuinely. It’s a handbook like no other. A revolutionary reimaging of farming in Ireland; an exploration of how farmers can take back sovereignty of the land and control of their own fate, by reestablishing a more harmonious, equitable, fruitful and stable relationship with nature. These pages can help set land owners on a path towards a sustainable future for them and their descendants.
The Farming for Nature Handbook is an optimistic, clarion call, offering practical, detailed steps on how to pivot our current debilitating farming practises towards regeneration and sustainable futures. Covering all aspects of farming, from mental health, to crop yields, from laying hedges to digging lakes. This is an invaluable resource for those wishing to integrate new techniques/modalities with traditional practises, to diversifying farm enterprises, and ultimately to leave a farm for their descendants that will be more fertile, viable and resilient than it is now.
A concise, comprehensive and inspiring handbook to a sustainable future on this island. Full of practical protocols and concise, impactful insights, covering everything from holistic grazing, native breeds, composting, meadows, natural pastures, hedge laying, beetle banks, etc.
An inspiring and wide-ranging insight into how farming can be a major pillar in tackling climate change.
Manchán Magan, writer, TV presenter & homesteader
This book is essential reading for both farmers and non-farmers who want to do their part to stop biodiversity decline. I wish that I had a copy when I started my farming career, it’s a must have for any nature lover’s library.
Hannah Quinn Mulligan, journalist, RTE broadcaster & farmer
The Farming for Nature handbook is packed with examples of farmer’s experiences of working with nature to make the farm richer in every way. It offers helpful tips on everything from improving soil function and fertility; enhancing grassland biodiversity; protecting the cultural and natural value of hedgerows; improving tree cover; and allowing life in wetlands and waterways to bounce back. Practical actions are outlined with real-life experiences of farmers who have carried out these actions already. Whether you are a seasoned nature friendly farmer or at the beginning of a journey to welcoming nature back in to your land, this beautifully laid out and illustrated handbook is essential reading for everyone.
Anja Murray, ecologist, broadcaster & author
The Farming for Nature handbook is a beautifully illustrated guide to farming for nature that can be applied across diverse agricultural settings. It covers everything from grassland to arable systems to smaller scale gardens. It contains advice on the management of an extensive range of nature positive features on farms from hedgerows to wetlands to native woodland and agroforestry. The book is inspired by and collates the experiences of farming for nature ambassadors supported by extensive research. What sets this manual apart is that it is peppered throughout with advice and insights written by farmers for farmers. These farming for nature ambassadors demonstrate the art of what is possible. The book highlights the benefits of farming for nature not just for the environment on which we depend, but also associated benefits related to enhancing resilience to climate change and improving farm profitability. I would highly recommend it for all farmers and members of the wider community interested in how we can enhance nature on our farms.
Dr James Moran, senior lecturer at ATU and policy advisor of agri-ecology at EU level
The National Parks and Wildlife Service is proud to support the Farming For Nature initiative by way of funding and advice. I am very happy to see this [book] come to fruition and as core funders of the project, NPWS are proud to have enabled this. The authors and all contributors are to be commended and this book should have a positive and lasting legacy.
Dr Barry O’ Donoghue, Assistant Principal at the National Parks & Wildlife Service
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine have been a supporter of the FFN initiative since its beginning and are delighted to see the cumulation of their positive work brought together in this handbook. It will be an invaluable resource for the farming community but also for anyone with an interest in farmland biodiversity. Farmers are the custodians of nature in our landscape and this handbook is a record and reminder of the vital role they play. It is sure to become a familiar reference point in many households for years to come.
Niall Ryan, Agricultural Inspector, Nature and Land Use Division, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Funders
This book would not have been possible without the financial support of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage), and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. We would like to thank you for seeing the potential in this project and for your continued support from inception through to completion.
Our Publishing Champions
We are also extremely grateful for the generous donations made by the following companies and foundations which helped to cover the publishing and printing costs.
Table of Contents
Authors
Dr Emma E. Hart is a conservation ecologist and writer. She is the owner of habitats.ie, a consultancy service in biodiversity conservation, science communication, and research and of Oysterhaven Biodiversity Reserve, a farm, research site, and nature restoration project in the south of Ireland. Emma has a PhD in conservation ecology and extensive international experience of managing science-based conservation initiatives. She serves on several inter(national) professional committees including for the IUCN and Farming for Nature and publishes regularly in the scientific and popular press.
Brigid Barry is a conservationist with over 25 years of experience working at the intersection of people and nature. Brigid has managed Farming For Nature since the project’s inception in 2018, prior to which she spent nine years managing the landscape charity Burrenbeo Trust. She has also worked as biodiversity officer for Clare County Council and as a project officer on numerous international conservation projects. Brigid originates from a beef and arable farm in Co. Cork.
Brendan Dunford is a heritage enthusiast and ‘eco-social’ entrepreneur. He led the award-winning BurrenLIFE Project and its successor, the Burren Programme. He is a founder of, and volunteer with, the Burrenbeo Trust, a charity dedicated to community stewardship, including initiatives such as Farming For Nature, Heritage Keepers, The Burren Winterage Weekend and The Hare’s Corner. He is an Ashoka Fellow and was awarded an honorary doctorate by University of Galway in 2018 for his work in championing farmland biodiversity. He is a regular contributor to the Irish Farmers Journal on sustainability themes. Originally from a farming background in Co. Waterford, Brendan has spent the last 25 years living and working in the Burren region in Co. Clare.
Featured farmers: Andrew Bergin; Andrew Chilton; Anthony Mooney; Aoife Reilly; Boyd Bryce; Bruce Thompson; Cathal Mooney; Clive Bright; Colm Flynn; Colm Gavin; Darina Allen; David Dennison; Donna Mullen; Eileen Condon; Eoghan Daltún; Feargal Ó Cuinneagáin; Fergal Smith; Gearoid Maher; Ger Deegan; Gerry Fitzsimmons; Irish Seed Savers; Jacinta French; James Gilmartin; James Ham; John McHugh; Kate Egan; Kim McCall; Maurice Deasy; Mervyn Auchmuty; Nia O Malley; Noel Kiernan; Olly Nolan; Pat Lalor; Pat Mulrooney; Paul McCormick; Paul Moore; Rod Calder Potts; Sean Condon; Sinead Moran; Stephen Morrison; Suzanna Crampton; Thomas Fouhy; Thomas O Connor; Thomas Stack; Tommy Early; Trevor Harris.
Illustrations: watercolours and sketches by farmer and artist Clive Bright, digital illustrations by scientific illustrator William Helps.
