The National Trust is a major owner of farmland in Northern Ireland. Some 5,500 acres of land, representing about a fifth of all Trust land in the country, is let to tenant farmers. Most is let under a conacre system of annual lets unique to Ireland.
The Trust works with its tenants to ensure that its land is farmed in a way that is sympathetic to the local environment. Our aim is to enhance the nature conservation value of our land by increasing the number and variety of plant and animal species that it supports, while at the same time maximising opportunities for public access to the land.
In practice, the Trust agrees terms of lease with its tenants governing such issues as stock levels and the use of fertilisers. The approach is to move away from the intensive farming techniques that have led to major declines in many of our native plant, bird and wildlife species.
For example, the Trust seeks to ensure that tenants farming within Environmentally Sensitive Areas meet their requirements in terms of farming in a more traditional and environmentally friendly manner. We are also keen to promote the uptake of Government agri-environmental initiatives such as the Countryside Management Scheme.
National Trust farmland is located across Northern Ireland, including in the Mournes, on the north Antrim coast, at the Crom Estate in Co Fermanagh, at Derrymore in Co Armagh, at Ballyquintin on the Ards Peninsula, at Downhill on the north Derry coast. This land represents a rich variety of farmland, including arable and grazing land, parkland, upland, lowland and hill, with unit sizes ranging from small three acre pockets of land, up to areas of several hundred acres in the Mournes.
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