EPA - Ireland's Environment 2016 - An Assessment

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Ireland’s Environment – An Assessment 2016 222
to species and habitats from climate change but the
need to develop climate adaption strategies, for example
in dealing with flood risk, may also bring opportunities
to develop amenities and wetlands and not just hard
engineering solutions.
Valuing and protecting our natural environment was one
of the four key challenges highlighted in the 2012 State
of the Environment report. The current assessment is
that habitat and biodiversity loss remain a risk and there
is a need to develop initiatives to engage society and
incorporate nature protection in decision making.
In relation to species and habitats in Ireland that are
considered threatened across Europe and protected under
the Habitats Directive, 52% of species are in favourable
status but only 9% of habitats are in favourable status.
One of the species of greatest concern is the pollution-
sensitive freshwater pearl mussel. Red List species are those
identified in most need of conservation interventions.
Of 185 birds that breed and/or winter in Ireland, 37 were
placed on the Red List and 90 on the Amber List, based on
conservation status. The iconic Curlew is now one of these
threatened breeding birds.
Ireland has lost most of its highest quality river sites in the
last three decades, with only 21 sites now remaining. The
loss of these sites (i.e. highest biological quality site) is not
a legacy that we should be leaving for future generations.
Lakes and estuaries are also still under threat from
pollution with the latest preliminary water quality results
showing a reduction in lake quality and no improvement
overall in estuaries. Ireland is now at a stage where urgent
and effective measures to control pressures on water
quality from agricultural and waste water is needed if we
are to protect and improve water quality. In the absence
of such measures the remaining highest quality river sites
could become extinct from the Irish landscape.
There is a need to bring biodiversity into the mainstream
through Biodiversity Action Plans, robust biodiversity
monitoring systems/mapping and new approaches such
as the ecosystem approach/natural capital accounting,
where appropriate, in the development of policies, plans
and strategies. Efforts to increase public awareness of
biodiversity could be strengthened as the appreciation
of biodiversity and its link to everyday life is necessary if
efforts to protect nature are to be successful. There are
also wider biodiversity issues that need consideration,
such as the need to protect bee populations, as reported
on over the past few years in a number of strategies and
plans (NBDC, 2015).
In Ireland some future challenges are emerging in relation
to climate change, to add to the key pressures on species
and habitats as outlined in Chapter 4. Increased land
use change as the economy recovers may lead to further
habitat loss and/or fragmentation through, for example,
risks to wetlands. Initiatives such as Food Harvest 2020
and Food Wise 2025 will have to be monitored and
analysed to a high level to ensure that these plans are
implemented in an environmentally sustainable way. The
impacts of climate change and the continuing threat of
invasive species are areas that also need to be monitored
and guarded against.
Key Action 7:
Community Engagement
Inform, Engage and Support Communities
in the Protection and Improvement of the
Environment
Environmental Information – Evidence and
Knowledge
We need to continue to develop better provision of
online, up-to-date and accessible information on the
environment.
Information and evidence are key to making effective
decisions that place the environment at the core of the
decision-making process. A positive development in recent
years has been the increase in the provision of information
sources. Government, the EPA and the Central Statistics
Office websites now provide user-friendly information for
business and/or consumers. Examples include the EPA’s
Ireland Environment, Splash and BeGreen web resources,
as well as co-delivered web resources (the EPA with local
authorities, HSE, IFA) such as Live Green,
Green Healthcare, Local Prevention and Smart Farming. There
are also numerous NGO-delivered resources (many of which
are supported by the EPA) including the Community Reuse
Network (CRNI),6 ECO-UNESCO7 and An Taisce8. Operating in
parallel with these information sources are EPA-funded public
awareness activities such as Stop Food Waste and EcoEye.
In developing information sources, we should also be
reminded of the recommendation from the EEA that
“that public communication alone cannot bring about
a society-wide transition as outlined in the EU’s policy
objectives of ‘living well within the limits of our planet.’
But by embracing recent innovations in communication
technologies and insights from behaviour science,
communications can complement other policy tools and
rally support for environmental measures” (EEA, 2015a).
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