EPA - Ireland's Environment 2016 - An Assessment

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Ireland’s Environment – An Assessment 2016 64
the public. Citizen science is included in the EPA Strategic
Plan 2016‑2020 (EPA, 2016). The EPA’s objective is to
engage the public in the protection and improvement
of the environment. The National Biodiversity Data
Centre greatly enhances public awareness through its
online biodiversity recording service and via an extensive
programme of workshops specifically targeting capacity
building within the citizen science sector. Other popular
citizen science projects include the garden bird survey
and the Bird Atlas (see topic box “The Bird Atlas and
Citizen Science”) run by BirdWatch Ireland, bat monitoring
projects run by Bat Conservation Ireland (Aughney et al.,
2012) and coastal projects run by Coastwatch and An
Taisce. Much of the data received by the NBDC is also
generated through citizen science, such as the Mammal
Atlas project which has accumulated over 120,000 records
of Irish mammals since 2010, mostly from the general
public, towards the production of a new Atlas of Irish
Mammals.17 Funding opportunities exist for community
initiatives via LEADER (e.g. catchment initiatives), Local
Agenda 21 and Heritage Council grants, but there are
still challenges in stimulating community involvement and
sustaining public engagement in such initiatives.
Conclusions and Future
Challenges
Land use changes and the planned intensification of
agriculture may lead to further habitat loss.
Some future challenges are emerging alongside the list
of current pressures. Increased land use change as the
economy improves may lead to further habitat loss and/
or fragmentation, through the draining of wetlands,
for example. The implementation of initiatives such as
Food Harvest 2020 and Food Wise 2025 will have to
be scrutinised to ensure that they are implemented in a
sustainable way.
Climate Change
Climate change is intensifying and the current underlying
issues will persist. Species and habitat ranges may expand
and contract in reaction to pressures from climate change.
Such changes will facilitate a range expansion in some
invasive alien species, for example. The impacts of climate
change and the continuing threat of invasive alien species
are areas that need to be constantly monitored and
guarded against, where possible.
17
The mainstreaming of biodiversity into economic and
development decisions would be of benefit to nature
protection.
There is a real need to increase efforts at all levels to
bring biodiversity into the mainstream using measures
such as Biodiversity Action Plans, thorough environmental
assessments and the ecosystem approach/natural capital
accounting (NCA), where appropriate, in the development
of our policies, plans and strategies. This will ensure
that evidence-based decisions are made and unforeseen
negative consequences for biodiversity are mitigated and
avoided, where possible.
There is room for improved co-ordination on nature
issues across linked directives and regulatory bodies.
There is a need for increased clarity in the roles and
responsibilities of our government agencies with regard
to biodiversity protection. Continued co-ordinated
implementation of existing measures to protect
biodiversity within protected areas and in the wider
countryside is required. One step towards this would be
better co-ordination of the relevant EU directives that
protect biodiversity, namely the WFD, Habitats and Birds
Directives and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive
(MSFD, 2008/56/EC), as outlined by the EU Biodiversity/
Nature Directors and Water/Marine Directors (Annex III
in or . In
addition, improved integration of sectoral policies by
applying the ecosystem approach and NCA principles
to the economy will be necessary to protect and restore
Ireland’s biodiversity.
Robust baseline biodiversity monitoring systems and
comprehensive ecosystem services mapping systems
are needed to highlight and protect nature in Ireland.
There is a pressing need to follow the approach of the
Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem Services (MAES)
project and put in place robust baseline biodiversity
monitoring systems and comprehensive ecosystem services
mapping. Ideally, these initiatives should be co-ordinated
and regularly updated by a single lead organisation with
ring-fenced funding.
Increased public awareness is vital.
Ongoing collaborative efforts to increase public awareness
of biodiversity must be continued and augmented. Public
awareness and appreciation of biodiversity and its intrinsic
link to everyday life is vital if measures to protect our
environment are to succeed.