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

Ireland’s Environment – An Integrated Assessment 2020 Figure 15.6  Conservation status of listed habitats, 2019 (based on 59 individual habitat assessments) (Source: NPWS, 2019) Favourable Inadequate Bad 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Scrub Rocky habitats Heaths Grasslands Freshwater Forest Dunes Coastal Peatlands Overall, the outlook for biodiversity both at a European level and in Ireland is stark. Recent reports show that the loss of species and habitats is increasing at a much faster rate than previously thought. For example, populations of farmland birds and grassland butterflies in Europe have declined by more than 30 per cent since 1990. The European state of the environment report (EEA, 2019a) acknowledged that the overall objective of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to halt the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services by 2020 will not be met. A recent audit by the European Court of Auditors examined the contribution of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to maintaining and enhancing biodiversity. It found that the formulation of the agriculture targets in the EU Biodiversity Strategy makes it difficult to measure progress; the way the Commission tracks biodiversity expenditure in the EU budget is unreliable; the impact of CAP direct payments is limited or unknown; and the Commission and Member States have favoured lower impact rural development measures. It recommended that the Commission improves the design of its next biodiversity strategy, enhances the contribution made to biodiversity by direct payments and rural development action, tracks biodiversity-related expenditure more accurately and develops reliable indicators that are suited to monitoring progress in farmland biodiversity (European Court of Auditors, 2020). The priority actions for Ireland to improve nature protection, as identified by the Commission in its 2019 EIR, are shown in Topic Box 15.4. Topic Box 15.4 Priority Actions for Ireland on Nature and Biodiversity as Identified by the European Commission (EC, 2019b) n Complete the Natura 2000 designation process for both terrestrial and marine environments. Put in place clearly defined conservation objectives and the necessary conservation measures so that they may meet their objective of maintaining or restoring species and habitats of community interest to a favourable conservation status across their natural range. n Take action to ensure that burning in uplands (especially in Natura 2000 areas) and hedgerow cutting are fully compatible with the requirements of the Birds and Habitats Directives. n Increase efforts to manage blanket bogs. n Take practical steps to address the serious decline of waders, and further develop the conservation programme for the curlew, both in Natura 2000 sites and in the wider countryside. n Ireland is urged to notify its provisions on penalties, as required by Article 30(4) of the Invasive Alien Species Regulation, as soon as its national legislation is adopted. 398