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Chapter 13: Environmental Challenges and Emerging Issues for Ireland
Mitigating GHG emissions and adaption to climate change
will be key considerations for Irish agriculture in the
coming years. It is clear that climate change will require
adaption to a new reality and this will impact on farmers,
as on all sectors of society.
We must also support continued collaborative research to
inform decision making that may affect soils, land use and
landscapes. Ireland has a rich and productive soil resource
that supports significant food production and other social,
economic and environmental uses, and it is important that
we protect this precious resource for future generations.
Putting the Environment at the Centre of
Decision Making
Information sources, such as websites with guidance,
data and map layers, have increased but it is more
difficult to translate information into action on the
ground that results in changes in behaviour.
Putting the environment at the centre of decision making
is a key challenge, given the competing demands placed
on our environment by today’s society. Ensuring that the
environment is at the centre of decision making is not just
a task for business and policymakers, it is also a choice for
all consumers. The 2012 State of the Environment report
outlined some of the challenges this poses and how even
we, as individuals, can make changes that will have a
collective impact, and thus position the environment at the
centre of decision making.
The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process
is a key tool for putting the environment at the heart
of decision making by providing for protection of the
environment and contributing to the integration of key
environmental considerations in plan and programme
making. Over the past 4 years, engagement by key sectors
in the SEA process has increased significantly. The SEA
process has developed further and is now an integral part
of the decision-making process in relation to key national
plans across a range of economic sectors (EPA, 2012b).
Four years on, there is still a need to increase efforts
at all levels in environmental decision making and the
need for a more integrated approach to environmental
monitoring and protection. In the area of biodiversity, for
example, we should develop better clarity in the roles and
responsibilities of our government agencies with respect
to biodiversity protection. A step towards this would be
better co-ordination and integration of the relevant EU
directives that protect biodiversity, water and the marine
environments.
Key Action 6: Nature
and Wild Places
Protect Pristine and Wild Places that Act
as Biodiversity Hubs, Contribute to Health
and Wellbeing, and Provide Tourism
Opportunities
Valuing and Protecting our Natural Environment
We need to protect our remaining wild places and
high-status water bodies as a safe place for wildlife
and people.
There are very few places in Ireland that have not
been impacted by human activity and our landscape
reflects the shifting patterns of human activity over
many centuries and millennia. We need to protect our
remaining wild places and high-status water bodies
from further deterioration so that they remain a safe
place for wildlife and people, and as a legacy for future
generations. Through ecological restoration and other
conservation strategies, we can also restore damaged
habitats to near-pristine condition. Conserving what we
already have, and restoring habitats such as our damaged
boglands, will help provide wild areas that protect
biodiversity, contribute to the health and wellbeing and
provide significant tourism opportunities. There are risks