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

Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 Strengthening Biodiversity Protection Protecting and restoring biodiversity and ecosystems in Ireland requires careful implementation. The urgency around improving biodiversity protection in Ireland was recognised at national level through Dáil Éireann declaring a climate and biodiversity emergency in 2019 (Dáil Éireann, 2019). The proposed Citizens’ Assembly for Biodiversity presents an opportunity for inclusive stakeholder engagement with respect to our biodiversity laws and policies. To protect nature, the Government’s National Biodiversity Action Plan includes the creation of a biodiversity duty across sectors to ensure they promote biodiversity and reduce the impact of their work. Research is ongoing into Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services approaches that seek to ensure biodiversity is considered in decision making. The review of the National Biodiversity Action Plan notes that integration of natural capital accounts into decision making is an area for more emphasis within the plan. The Heritage Bill was signed into Irish law in 2018. It has highlighted the need for research to gather the evidence base on which legislative decisions affecting and protecting nature are made, for example, information about the breeding season for some species of birds in Ireland that could be affected by the burning of vegetation and hedgerow cutting. Valuing Nature People value nature and are willing to make changes to conserve it. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the biodiversity crisis is the fact that we need to change how we live our lives both at a societal level and at a personal level. The 2019 IPBES global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services summarised it as follows: ‘Goals for conserving and sustainably using nature and achieving sustainability cannot be met by current trajectories, and goals for 2030 and beyond may only be achieved through transformative changes across economic, social, political and technological factors’ (IPBES, 2019). Transformative changes need to be fast-tracked and in the shorter term we can all make changes in our everyday lives that can make a difference. Avoiding the use of weedkillers and pesticides in our gardens and allowing wildflowers to thrive is a simple and effective way to welcome nature back into our homes. Such nature- friendly spaces create corridors of connectivity throughout the landscape and give nature much-needed refuge. Community engagement and local projects, such as those mentioned in this chapter, have a big part to play in protecting nature. These projects are crucial to the implementation of the National Biodiversity Action Plan 2017-2021 and need to be supported. Local interventions are important but nationally Ireland needs to prioritise actions to protect nature and bend the curve of biodiversity loss. The five interventions or levers recommended by IPBES, as mentioned earlier in this chapter, could be the drivers for transformative change. As a people we are rightly proud of our rivers, mountains, beaches and parks and the species that live in them. We can all play our part to help stop the decline of biodiversity. 154