Plans to omit designated sites from Wales' proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) has been branded 'illogical' by NFU Cymru.
Under Welsh government proposals, farmland designated in Sites of Special Specific Interest (SSSIs) will be excluded from the habitat maintenance element of the SFS's universal baseline payment.
Instead, support for these sites will be prioritised for inclusion in the scheme’s optional action layer, but this will be subject to the development of a management plan with Natural Resources Wales (NRW).
The optional action layer of the scheme is to be introduced later and subject to further engagement and budget availability, Welsh government proposed.
There are some 1,070 SSSIs in Wales currently, many of which are located on farms.
Responding, NFU Cymru rural affairs board chair Hedd Pugh said farmers would be 'perplexed' by the latest proposal.
He said: “It is incomprehensible that these sites are to be excluded from the universal layer of the SFS.
"We know that it is going to take time to get the Management Plans with NRW in place and a lot more work is going to be needed to get the optional action layer of the scheme operational.
“Some farms support extensive SSSI designations and Welsh government’s proposals will feel especially punitive to these farmers.
"These sites are supposed to be the best examples of our natural environment reflecting positive management practices by farmers over generations."
Mr Pugh added: "You would hope that there will be widespread agreement that Welsh government’s current policy position in relation to SSSIs is untenable.”
In a separate issue, NFU Cymru recently warned that the Welsh government’s proposals do not provide equal access to tenant farmers.
It comes after Welsh farmers protested outside the office of the Rural Affairs Minister earlier this week as anger brews over the future direction of the industry.
Dozens of tractors and other farm vehicles drove up to the constituency office of Lesley Griffiths in Wrexham, North Wales on Monday (12 February).
This followed a meeting of over 3,000 farmers at Carmarthen market where the Sustainable Farming Scheme proposals were discussed, with many believing the industry will be hit hard.
