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Ireland’s Environment 2012
94
Conclusion and
Future Challenges
The trend in the past decade
towards the development of low-
density residential development
on the periphery of cities and the
suburbanisation of satellite villages
and towns has largely ended.
Economic circumstances mean it is
likely to be some years before there
are pressures to convert a significant
amount of land for development
purposes. The main drivers of land
use change over the coming decade
will be the agricultural policies of
afforestation and
Food Harvest
2020
. As highlighted elsewhere
in this report, environmental
considerations must be integrated
in the implementation of these
policies from the start to prevent
unsustainable impacts on the
environment.
The sustainable management of
both land use and soils requires
an integrated approach from the
key statutory bodies. The proposed
National Landscape Strategy for
Ireland needs to be prepared and
fully implemented. Similarly, a
National Soil Protection Strategy,
including the identification of soils
at risk and addressing the need to
establish a soil monitoring network,
is required.
The information available on soil is
currently not sufficient and it is vital
to improve our evidence base to
provide information and guidance
to policy and decision makers. We
can thus strengthen our assessment
and understanding of threats
and pressures and help identify
the measures that are required to
address priority issues. A national
land use information and analysis
capacity also needs to be developed
to address the diverse range of
information needs at local, regional
and national levels. The EPA, NPWS,
Teagasc, Heritage Council and OSi
are currently working together to
develop an integrated and shared
approach to developing such a
capacity.
Ireland’s peatlands are of immense
value and their degradation impacts
on climate change, biodiversity
and water quality. Inappropriate
construction, unregulated extraction
and site preparation at peatland
sites have been shown to degrade
peatland structural integrity over
a wide area adjacent to some
developments. It is important that
these threats to ecosystem function
and carbon stocks be minimised
through robust and integrated
planning, assessment, authorisation,
enforcement and management
processes. In this context the
proposed National Peatland Strategy
will be of considerable benefit.
The issues of spatial planning, land
use and soil quality are intertwined
and interdependent, and this should
be reflected in integrated policies
and plans at national, regional and
local levels. The continued uptake
of the SEA Directive across all
economic sectors is important,
and programme/plan makers across
all sectors need to engage fully with
the requirements of the SEA process.
While Ireland has fewer
contaminated land problems than
most other industrialised countries,
there is no overall policy framework
for the identification, management
and remediation of contaminated
land in Ireland. National legislation
dealing specifically with soil
contamination needs to be
developed, including a mechanism
for remediation of sites.
References
Coillte, 2012.
LIFE Project:
Demonstrating Best Practice in
Raised Bog Restoration in Ireland
.
www.raisedbogrestoration.ie
CSO (Central Statistics Office), 1997.
Farming since the Famine: Irish Farm
Statistics 1847–1996
. Government
of Ireland, Dublin.
DAFF (Department of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food), 2010.
Food Harvest
2020: A Vision for Irish Agri-food
and Fisheries
. DAFF, Dublin.
EC (European Commission), 2010.
Soil Biodiversity: Functions, Threats
and Tools for Policy Makers
. DG
Environment, EC Technical Report
2010-049.
EEA (European Environment Agency),
2010.
The European Environment:
State and Outlook 2010
. SOER2010,
EEA, Copenhagen.
EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency), 2011.
Ireland National
Inventory Report 2011. Greenhouse
Gas Emissions 1990–2009 Reported
to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
.
EPA, Wexford.
EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency), 2012a.
STRIVE Project:
Management Strategies for the
Protection of High Status Water
Bodies
. www.waterstatusireland.
irish-surge-forecast.ie
EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency), 2012b.
National Waste
Report 2010
. EPA, Wexford.
EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency) and Teagasc, 2007.
National Soils Database
.
http://erc.epa.ie/nsdb
EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency) and Teagasc, 2009.
Teagasc–EPA Soils and Subsoils
Mapping Project: Final Report
.
EPA, Wexford.