Dr. Andy Bleasdale:

The slide shows the functions of the other directorates in the NPWS and some of the milestones in the renewal of the organisation achieved in recent years. These include the publication of both an action plan and a strategic plan for the NPWS, which elaborate on the renewal of the organisation.

Where does the obligation for a national biodiversity action plan come from? The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which the European Union and its member states signed up to at COP15 in December 2022, contains goals and targets to protect and restore nature that are expected to guide national biodiversity action plans in each of the member states and across the world. The NPWS leads on the development of the national biodiversity action plan for Ireland. This plan will be an umbrella policy that will also take account of EU and international biodiversity strategies and policies and relevant policies such as the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, strategic plan, the climate action plan and the river basin management plan, among others.

This will be Ireland’s fourth plan. It has been the subject of significant effort over the last two years, with the support, advice and input of a cross-departmental biodiversity working group and a biodiversity forum comprising external experts and other stakeholders. The plan will be published in quarter 1 of 2024, so early next year.

This national biodiversity action plan strives for a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach to the governance and conservation of biodiversity. The aim is to ensure that every citizen, community, business, local authority and semi-State and State agency has an awareness of biodiversity and its importance, and of the implications of its loss, while also understanding how it can act to address the biodiversity emergency as part of a renewed national effort to act for nature and to protect it. Protecting nature is the motto of the NPWS.

The national biodiversity action plan will build upon the achievements of the previous plan. It will contain five strategic objectives while addressing new and emerging issues. The objectives are underpinned by 194 actions linked to specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound, SMART, targets and supported by indicators. The plan will be updated in 2027 to reflect progress on the development of a national restoration plan, which is also required under the nature restoration regulation. This may come up in the discussion later.

Each entity responsible for actions within this plan will provide an annual update on progress and contribute to an interim and final review of the plan. A report on progress will be provided annually to the senior officials group on the environment and climate action and, as appropriate, to relevant Cabinet sub-committees. The Minister also will bring a progress report on the national biodiversity action plan, NBAP, to Cabinet at least once a year.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service very much welcomes the recommendations arising from the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss. The NPWS continues to work with colleagues across government to progress action for biodiversity. This has resulted in many of the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss recommendations being echoed in the current draft of the fourth NBAP, including such conservation actions and measures as the preparation of a national restoration plan; an action for the NPWS to seek to establish a strategic nature fund to support and escalate the implementation of long-term measures to support biodiversity conservation and restoration; actions to expand the marine protected area network; actions to improve engagement and communication; actions to support local action, including a roll-out of biodiversity officers to all local authorities; actions to support business via the Business for Biodiversity platform; actions that will reduce the use of pesticides, escalate outcome-based agri-environmental schemes and prepare a national invasive alien species management plan; actions to improve monitoring and data collection, including ongoing support for the National Biodiversity Data Centre; and also an action that will put the NBAP on a statutory footing with more transparent reporting and governance structures.

There are some Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss recommendations that are beyond the remit of the NPWS and will need the involvement of other Departments across government and other actors and stakeholders. I have outlined some of them on the slide. They include a review of fiscal policies to ensure we are not subsidising activities that may harm biodiversity. We are also considering innovative ways to finance the restoration agenda, including through tax breaks, green loans, levies and public-private partnerships. We need to seek, collectively, to embed natural capital accounting into national accounts and ensure this is fully considered by the land use review phase 2. We also need further consideration of biodiversity in planning policy, including an exploration of the concept of net gain, that is, not just stopping net loss but working towards a net gain for biodiversity. We need to ensure there are sufficient courses and-or apprenticeships to build a market or ecosystem of ecologists and restoration practitioners. We need national oversight of the implementation of nature-based solutions that would support our climate objectives, which are aligned in many cases with biodiversity objectives, and the creation of ecologist roles in various Departments to recognise the interlinkages between the climate and biodiversity agendas.

We were asked to say a few words about site designation in Ireland and I will give the committee a brief outline in regard to that. Ireland’s natural heritage is an integral part of our national identity. Conserving nature requires the harmonisation and integration of a range of policies, strategies, plans and programmes. Designation and conservation of certain key sites are also required under both European and national laws. To facilitate this, site-specific conservation objectives have been set by the NPWS.

There are a number of different ways in which this protection is achieved. The strongest protections apply at sites which are significant on the European stage, including the special areas of conservation, SACs, and the special protection areas, SPAs, listed on the slide.

There are more than 600 of these in Ireland currently, as members can see, and all are protected under the nature directives. These European sites are found in various parts of the country and in our marine waters, but with a concentration along the western seaboard. These are our SACs or SPAs. There are also important designations for sites that are significant nationally. On land, these are designated as natural heritage areas, NHAs, and protected under our national legislation rather than by European law. A range of other protections exist, such as nature reserves and national parks, and, as committee members will be aware, there are important plans under way to designate marine protected areas under new legislation.

I will now focus on the SAC network. The EU habitats directive is transposed into Irish law by the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011. This directive lists certain habitats and species that must be protected within SACs. The slide that we are viewing shows the area on land that is designated as SAC and the next slide shows the footprint of offshore designations, of which there are currently eight sites. These slides are given to the committee as an aide-mémoireof the meeting. Under the birds directive, SPAs are designated for the protection of listed rare and vulnerable bird species, regularly occurring migratory species and wetlands, especially those hosting birds of international importance. The next slide shows the NHA network, of which there are 155 sites designated to protect raised and blanket bogs.

As I mentioned, certain other types of protection may be afforded to sites, as set out in the documentation provided. The next slide shows our national park network and members will note the recently designated Boyne Valley-Brú na Boinne national park which was announced on 29 September of this year. This completes the network of sites in the north east and across the country, which shows off the jewels in the crown of the national parks in Ireland. The next slide shows our nature reserves, which are areas of importance for wildlife and protected under the Wildlife Acts. In combination, each of these types of sites adds value to the protection of biodiversity under national and EU instruments.

I will now say a few words on the conservation status of habitats and species in Ireland. According to the 2019 Article 17 report on the implementation of the EU habitats directive, 85% of Ireland's habitats are assessed as being in an unfavourable conservation status. Some 46% of habitats are recorded to be in decline, with only 2% of habitats reported as improving. These are ongoing declines that are reported in our grasslands and peatland habitats and in marine environments. Over 70% of habitats are reported to be impacted by pressures related to agricultural activities.

Ireland is not unique in experiencing these types of problems and these assessments reflect similar trends across Europe. Habitats are listed on the directive because they are perceived to be threatened at EU level. Those that are most threatened are the ones we are trying to protect but they are the ones that are most under pressure, so it is no surprise to us that many habitats are in an unfavourable condition.

The bottom two graphs on the next slide are related to species under the habitats directive. Almost 60% of species are listed as having favourable conservation status in Ireland. Therefore, the trend for species is better than the trend for habitats at the moment. Ireland is the stronghold for many of these species and we have healthy populations of many listed mammals and plants.

The next slide focuses on bird species. Some 21% of breeding birds were assessed in our 2019 Article 12 report on the implementation of the EU birds directive as being declining. Approximately 60% of birds commonly occurring in Ireland are now on the red or amber conservation lists, and that includes the corncrake and the hen harrier. A species group that is also under threat is that of breeding waders, which is probably the most threatened group of bird species in Ireland. This would include birds that depend on good management of farmland for their conservation, such as curlew, lapwing, redshank and snipe, all of which species are declining significantly at the moment.

The pressures causing ongoing declines in habitats and birds are being prioritised through the CAP strategic plan, which is a positive and a green light that we would like to see advanced in the years ahead. This addresses pressures in relation to grazing and water pollution and it is applied through a suite of interventions and EU and national funding instruments, including the LIFE programme.

In summary, and without prejudice to the whole-of-government response to the report and recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, the national biodiversity action plan includes many actions that will address the recommendations arising from the assembly. We are encouraged by the level of engagement across government and society to prepare an ambitious national biodiversity action plan.

It represents our collective response to the biodiversity emergency and a national recognition of the importance of nature in our everyday lives. The slide I have shown here shows the full engagement, including over 600 delegates and 90 speakers at our second national biodiversity conference in 2022, so this is a national conversation and not just an internal conversation taking place within the NPWS. It is taking place across Government and with wider society.

We are also looking forward to a positive and constructive engagement on this very important topic. Gabhaim buíochas leis na baill uilig as a n-aird agus as a bhfoighde inniu.