The Rural Environment Protection Scheme of the Republic of Ireland

Agricultural modernisation has had an impact on the Irish environment but o fficial policy to address this developed only slowly. The reform of the EU CAP provided the incentive for the formulation of the Rural Environment Pro tection Scheme (REPS). This is a wide-ranging scheme to promote environment ally friendly farming through application of 11 measures and six supplement ary measures. Significant characteristics of the REPS include its: universa l availability, voluntary nature, comprehensiveness, payment limitation, ta iloring to individual farms and inclusion of training. There has been a hig h level of adoption, with participation being greatest in the small-farm we st with its cattle and sheep enterprises. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. Al l rights reserved.