Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

185 Chapter 7: Nature 6. Conclusions The challenges of protecting the wide diversity of Ireland’s habitats and species are now more serious than ever. The quality of natural habitats and the species they support are declining, both globally and nationally. These challenges are serious and, while they are not new, they are unprecedented. Valuing and protecting our natural environment were identified as key challenges in the 2012, 2016 and 2020 State of the Environment reports. Clearly, continuing with a ‘business- as-usual approach’ will mean that nature and our wild places will continue to fragment, and biodiversity will continue to decline. The global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services undertaken by IPBES (2019) found that human actions are threatening more species with global extinction now than ever before. The report asserted that transformative global changes in human society are needed. Despite the numerous positive initiatives outlined above, trends in nature and biodiversity loss in Ireland are, for the most part, going in the wrong direction. To change the current unsustainable path will require greater consideration of biodiversity at every step of development and in sectoral plans and policies – a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach to managing and protecting biodiversity. It will require detailed consideration of the national governance structures in place to protect biodiversity. It will also entail assessing the level of government funding required to stop and reverse the loss of biodiversity and habitats and to enhance, protect (via enforcement, where necessary) and adequately manage our natural environment. Implementing the actions, plans and recommendations outlined in the fourth iteration of the National Biodiversity Action Plan (NPWS, 2024), reports from the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss (Citizens’ Assembly, 2023), the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action (JCECA, 2023), and the EU Nature Restoration Law will be very positive steps. The successful implementation of these actions, plans and recommendations will be critical in reversing the trends in biodiversity loss across Ireland and in driving nature restoration. Implementation will also result in additional positive effects, providing improvements in water quality (see Chapter 8) and the marine environment (see Chapter 9) and in mitigating the impacts of climate change (see Chapter 4). Although some of the actions have come a long way, particularly relating to agricultural policy, business engagement and the expansion of NPWS, previous iterations of the National Biodiversity Action Plan used similar language to the current (fourth) version and set many of the same, or similar, high-level targets. To see tangible and measurable improvements in nature across Ireland, the actions and plans outlined in the action plan must be resourced and implemented and their performance monitored and reported on. Much of the responsibility for the actions set out in the fourth National Biodiversity Action Plan (NPWS, 2024) primarily fall under the remit of the DHLGH, while DAFM has a considerable number of actions; nevertheless, it is essential that the alignment of policy, action and results across government are coordinated or they may be more difficult to achieve. Ultimately, embedding biodiversity and nature at the heart of policies that are aligned across sectors, such as agriculture, water, planning and so forth, will ensure that nature is considered at all levels across society. Significant positive results can be achieved where investment, science and local communities are used to drive positive action on the ground. The success of the Corncrake LIFE project, for example, indicates that nature can recover when aided by appropriate action and conservation measures.