EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Chapter 6: Nature Topic Box 6.2 Bringing Back the Call of the Curlew The curlew ( Numenius arquata ) is our largest wader and its call was once a familiar sound to many Irish people. It is now almost extinct as a breeding species in Ireland. Ireland is visited by thousands of curlew every winter; however, the resident population that breeds in Ireland has decreased dramatically in number. Between 1980 and 2018 the population decreased by 96 per cent to 138 pairs (O’Donoghue et al. , 2019). Breeding curlew also no longer occur in areas they previously visited – there has been an estimated 78 per cent reduction in their range. This extensive loss has happened because the habitats they depend on have been lost and because of changes in how land is used. This iconic Irish species is listed as ‘near threatened’ on the global International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species. 7 The Curlew Conservation Programme, 8 implemented in 2017, was Ireland’s response to these dramatic declines and resulted in the formation of Curlew Action Teams across the country. Local advisors, champions and nest protection officers work closely with landowners and other local interests to protect curlew habitats and breeding sites. A Curlew Task Force was also established to reverse the dramatic decline and the public have been asked to be alert to the presence of breeding curlew in their locality, particularly during spring and summer, and to report any observations to the NPWS. Knowing the locations of breeding curlew enables landowners to protect them. The elusive curlew ( Numenius arquata ) (Source: Colum Clarke) 7 https://www.iucnredlist.org/ 8 https://www.npws.ie/farmers-and-landowners/schemes/curlew- conservation-programme Red List Species Species on the national Red Lists are most at risk of extinction. ‘Red Lists’ identify species at risk that need to be actively protected and conserved. Species are categorised into nine groups under an international system (IUCN): extinct; extinct in the wild; critically endangered; endangered; vulnerable; near threatened; least concern; data deficient; and not evaluated. Endangered species face a very high risk of extinction in the wild (IUCN, 2012). The NPWS and Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) coordinate Red Lists in Ireland and the lists are available on the NPWS website. 9 Just over 14 per cent of species assessed in Ireland are under threat of extinction (DCHG, 2017). These include the European eel, Arctic char and natterjack toad. The details from the Red List assessment presented in Ireland’s ‘6th National Report on the Convention on Biological Diversity’ are shown in Figure 6.4a (DCHG, 2019a). New Red List assessments have been undertaken in Ireland since 2016, namely for vascular plants – also called higher plants (Wyse Jackson et al. , 2016); cartilaginous fish – a group of fish that includes sharks and their relatives (Clarke et al. , 2016) and mammals (Marnell et al. , 2019) (Figure 6.4b). A study published in 2019 found that one shark species, the angel shark, currently classified as critically endangered, is now nearing extinction in Irish waters (Shephard et al. , 2019). In addition an assessment for plecoptera (stonefiles) was published in 2020 (Feeley et al. , 2020) (Figure 6.4b). The critically endangered angel shark (Squatina squatina) 9 https://www.npws.ie/publications/red-lists 135