Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I have gone through the EU biodiversity strategy, which contains many really good proposals. As the Minister stated, there is a commitment to protect a minimum of 30% of not just terrestrial areas, but also marine areas and, within that, to have a heavily protected area of 10%. That would be quite a significant change from the current situation, but it is an important goal to aim for. Those commitments to be implemented by 2030 and, as such, there will be a lot of work to be done. As the Minister stated, it is best to bring people with one on these issues. There will be a significant amount of work involved in getting us from the current situation to 30% of our land and water being protected.

Is the Government in favour of those targets in principle? Does it agree with the 30% target? The Minister referred to the programme for Government, but it does not contain any targets in respect of land or marine protected areas. What is the thinking of the Government on the 30% commitment by the EU? Does the Minister envisage that the Government will sign up to it? What steps is the Department taking to ensure we can reach it? A significant amount of mapping, monitoring and other work on the ground will be required in order to identify ecologically coherent land and marine areas that are suitable for these kinds of protections.

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