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

Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 With respect to particulate matter, agriculture is responsible for 7.4 per cent of total national emissions of particulate matter < 2.5 µm in size, 31.7 per cent of emissions of particulate matter < 10 µm in size and 18.9 per cent of emissions of total suspended particulates. Furthermore it is estimated that up to 15 per cent of particulate matter < 2.5 µm in size in Ireland is derived from ammonia emissions from agriculture (DCCAE, 2020). National emissions reduction targets are in place for particulate matter < 2.5 µm in size for 2020 and 2030 under the National Emission Ceilings Directive (2016/2284/ EU). Emissions from agricultural sources are included in the compliance assessment. Emissions of particulate matter from agriculture arise from manure management, fertiliser application to soils and both on-farm and off-farm handling and transport of bulk agricultural products. Finally, the use of pesticides is the major contributor to hexachlorobenzene emissions to air in Ireland (EPA, 2020b). Hexachlorobenzene is present as an impurity in or a by-product of some pesticides, such as chlorothalonil. A ban on the use of this pesticide came into effect in May 2020. Biodiversity and Agriculture Changes in and intensification of agricultural practices have impacted on biodiversity. There are, however, locally led projects that the sector could learn from, in which farmers are working to restore specific habitats and conserve species on their farms. Agriculture depends on biodiversity, with Irish agriculture having a particular advantage in that grassland is the majority land cover in Ireland. Our landscape has been shaped by millennia of agricultural activity, with intensification of agriculture in recent decades leading to a loss of biodiversity, with significant implications for flora and fauna. Since 1994 it has been compulsory for every EU Member State to have agri-environmental schemes in place in an effort to halt the decline in biodiversity. This is the primary way that farmers are rewarded for farming in an environmentally friendly manner. In Ireland, these voluntary schemes have evolved from the four iterations of the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme (REPS) to the current GLAS scheme. The value of these schemes to biodiversity has, however, been difficult to ascertain and there would be benefits from planning such schemes at a landscape scale. Additionally, there has been limited success in attracting higher value sectors, such as the dairy sector, into these schemes. The most recent report under the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) (DCHG, 2019a) suggested that 57 per cent of listed species have a ‘favourable conservation status’, 15 per cent have an ‘inadequate status’ and 15 per cent have a ‘bad status’; 72 per cent of species demonstrate a stable or improving status, while 15 per cent demonstrate ongoing declining trends. Functioning habitats are key to species survival; however, 85 per cent of listed habitats were assessed as having an ‘unfavourable conservation status’, with 46 per cent in a declining condition and 2 per cent in an improving condition. Agriculture and other activities are having negative effects on a wide range of habitats and species, such as wetlands, fish, molluscs, terrestrial mammals and vascular plants. Drainage of land, fertiliser application, clear-felling, undergrazing and abandonment of land are known pressures that, although local in extent, may influence a much wider area, especially if they affect groundwater supplies or nearby watercourses. Other studies have indicated a decline of 14 per cent in bee species (NPWS, 2014). Bumblebees are especially affected, with 7 out of 20 species at risk of extinction. Among bird species, 19 per cent had increased in number, but 18 per cent of breeding species and 16 per cent of wintering species were in decline. Of the 10 per cent of species on the Red List, 24 per cent are regarded as ‘threatened’ and 15 per cent are ‘critically endangered’. The 6th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity (DCHG, 2019b) describes the decline in farmland bird species, such as the corncrake and yellowhammer, as indicative of changes in agricultural practices and a nationwide reduction in mixed farming with small-scale cereal growing, with a move instead to specialisation and livestock production. The decline in bees, butterflies and other insects is stated to be largely the result of monoculture and the drive for ever-increasing levels of productivity, characterised by a loss or neglect of hedgerows, farmland edges and scrub. The National Biodiversity Action Plan 2017-2021 (DCHG, 2017), developed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, includes 119 targeted actions under seven strategic objectives. The Plan specified ‘enhanced appreciation of the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services amongst policy makers, business, stakeholders, local communities, and the general public’ as one of its seven key objectives. It includes a vision ‘that biodiversity 334