Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

161 Chapter 7: Nature The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action advised that the calls to action set out by the assembly should be examined and considered for implementation by the relevant government departments. Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action examined the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly report on biodiversity loss and, in turn, published its report in December 2023 (JCECA, 2023). It had engaged extensively with stakeholders to ensure that the biodiversity crisis in Ireland would be addressed in a meaningful way. Among its key recommendations were to change fundamentally the approach to environmental governance and enforcement taken across government departments, to place the fourth iteration of the National Biodiversity Action Plan on a statutory footing and for the state to play a leading and supportive role in the adoption and implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Law (see section 4). 4 Conservation status of species under the EU Habitats Directive (accessed 18 April 2024). 2. The status of protected nature in Ireland In Ireland, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) provides a 6-yearly update on the assessment of the conservation status of habitats and species in Ireland protected under the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC, Article 17), with the most recent being in 2019 (NPWS, 2019a). That report indicated that, of Ireland’s 59 habitats listed in the directive, most have an unfavourable status with almost half showing ongoing declines, including marine, peatland (Figure 7.2), grassland and woodland habitats (NPWS, 2019a). Ireland also falls below the EU average when it comes to the number of habitats reported as being in ‘good’ conservation status (Figure 7.3). In a European assessment covering the period 2013-2018 (EEA, 2020), Ireland comes 20th out of 28 Member States (including the UK). The European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment also reported on Ireland’s 60 species listed in the directive. It highlights that the majority of species (72%) protected under the EU Habitats Directive are stable or increasing. Overall, 57% of Irish species assessed have a good conservation status (Figure 7.4), which is above the EU average (30.4%). 4 The EEA’s latest ‘State of nature in the EU’ report (2020) shows alarming results from the 2013-2018 reporting period (Topic Box 7.3). Figure 7.2  Intact Irish peatland, Clara bog, Co. Offaly Credit: ©Tina Claffey