Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I commend the Minister of State and the Department on the work that is being done to strengthen our national parks and wildlife.

There is an awful lot to be done. I believe that this Government has taken notable strides in increasing funding for the National Parks and Wildlife Service and building a framework that will ensure sustainability into the future. The work of the National Parks and Wildlife Service underpins so much of the work carried out to protect our ecosystem. Climate change, habitat degradation and the introduction of invasive species pose ongoing threats that we must reverse.

To this end, in recent years we have seen a range of measures taken by the Government to safeguard our ecosystem, expand the network of national parks, and enhance the number of wildlife sanctuaries, nature reserves and more. The introduction of an increased number of protected areas allows for vital habitats for species of native flora and fauna to recover and grow stronger. Indeed, we have seen a number of species rebound in recent years, but we must also acknowledge the trend that has seen some species decline. This is a trend that is, unfortunately, happening across the world. Recent studies carried out by Queen's University Belfast show that almost half of all species on Earth are currently in decline, with just 3% of species increasing and with the extinction of species currently between 100 to 1,000 times above the anticipated rate. This report also shows that the global picture with regard to biodiversity is far worse than previously thought.

Both our national and global ecosystems are inextricably linked. The destruction of these fragile ecosystems poses a risk to everyone. It weakens food production, reduces water quality, increases the emergence of disease and viruses, and reduces the quality of the air that we breathe. This underscores the importance of the actions that we take here at home and the far-reaching impacts that those decisions can have. In particular, I commend the Minister of State on work such as the recent announcement of a 2,000 ha project at Glenasmole in County Wicklow. This project, which is being led by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, will see native woodland planting, bog rehabilitation, increasing biodiversity and more. This will result in increased carbon storage, reduced soil erosion and improvements to water quality in the area. This is particularly notable as Glenasmole is the source of the River Dodder that flows through large sections of Dublin. This represents a positive and ambitious step that I believe should be pursued in other areas of the country. That would provide a huge range of benefits, not just to the environment but to local communities and to the many visitors that such sites attract for recreation, research and more.

I also want to highlight the positive approach taken by the Department and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, which I understand engaged significantly with local farmers in Glenasmole who have been looking after the area for generations. This shows the strength of what can be achieved when communities and the Government come together and work in tandem. I very much hope that this approach will be replicated in the future. I encourage the Minister of State to look north of the Liffey if other such projects are being considered.

The decision to plant native woodland is of considerable importance and one that we must see repeated in other areas. The forestry sector plays a significant role in our country, and I believe it has much more to offer in the years ahead. The sustainable planting of native trees has a wide range of benefits and I hope that we will continue to see an increase in the level of investment in this sector by the Government, as has been the case in recent years. This can offer huge potential for jobs, sustainability, clean air and carbon sequestration. However, I highlight the need for further support in an effort to close the skills and labour shortage within the sector. I urge relevant Departments to consider what measures they can implement to remedy this situation.

I also welcome the recent creation of a dedicated directorate within the National Parks and Wildlife Service, which will lead the implementation of conservation measures across all of Ireland's Natura 2000 sites. This is an important step that will allow us to ensure that clear and targeted aims can be achieved in an effective manner.

I also note that there have been a number of advancements under the Strategic Action Plan 2022-2024 for the National Parks and Wildlife Service. I look forward in particular to the forthcoming publication of a framework for the development of strategic plans for the national parks, which I understand is anticipated to be finalised in September of this year. Clear mission goals set out in defined strategies, such as I hope to see, will allow us to build pathways forward to achieve those goals and, importantly, outline the necessary resource allocations which are crucial to sustainable project development.

Under the strategic action plan, I also eagerly await the development and publication of legislation on national parks and nature conservation which I believe it is hoped will be introduced in the Oireachtas early next year. This will prove another important step that will set Ireland on a binding route to better conservation methods, which is vital to the sustainability of our biodiversity and ecosystems.

I will also take this opportunity to comment on the nature restoration law. Several Members have done so already. It has been the subject of much debate in recent days and weeks. As Members of the House will be aware, the European Commission has published a highly anticipated proposal for an EU nature restoration law. This proposal aims to restore at least 20% of the EU's land and sea areas by 2030 and repair ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050. This is a major undertaking and the first of its kind in the European Union. I welcome the ambition of this piece of work, and while I understand the difference of opinion that this debate has caused, I urge all of the relevant actors to work together to find a workable solution to such an important matter.

The conservation of our marine areas, just as our parks, is of the utmost importance. Earlier this year we marked the introduction of Ireland's first hope spot off the coast of Kerry, marking it out as an area of critical importance for marine life at risk of extinction. By 2030 it is anticipated that 30% of Irish territorial waters will be marine protected areas, which will be pivotal in allowing marine life to grow sustainably in our waters, leading to healthier, cleaner seas.

Our deep connection to the land and sea is at the core of the history of this nation and its peoples. Now more than ever, we are called to honour that connection and to protect life in all its forms on this planet. By acting here at home, we can create a brighter future for our people and show the real leadership that is required on the international stage. We cannot have a future without biodiversity, and if we are to be successful we must be seen to devise policy and also to act to progress what we have achieved to date. I look forward to contributing to that effort.

The Minister of State understands better than most the importance of our forestry sector and having a sustainable forestry sector, as I mentioned earlier, with regard to the planting or replanting of native woodlands. Our forestry sector, as the Minister of State well knows, is in the middle of quite a bit of difficulty when it comes to obtaining both planting and felling licences. In fact, a constituent was on to me just this week about his difficulty. I will refer him to the appropriate Minister in due course. He has been trying for nearly a year to get a planting licence for 30 ha in Fingal. These frustrations are felt right across the sector. There is an organisation of which I am sure the Minister of State is aware called the Social, Economic, Environmental Forestry Association of Ireland, SEEFA. It has rather helpfully, notwithstanding anything else it is doing, been sending us lists of planting and felling numbers. Looking at what we were looking to achieve and what we have actually achieved on both sides versus the trend, unfortunately I have not seen evidence of that trend improving. The Minister of State will be only too aware of that.

Whatever the difficulty is with certain individuals across the State referring these matters to the courts, among other things, we have to realise that there are and have been thousands upon thousands of hectares of trees planted across this country for the specific purpose of being felled for various industries, including house building. We must recognise that was their purpose. We must put in place a reasonable strategy that can be achieved, both by the State through the likes of Coillte and other actors, so we can achieve those things and reverse that downward trend into an upward tick, which can only be of benefit both to this country and to its people. From a carbon perspective, native woodland being grown for the purposes of house-building, for instance, rather than importing the timber required, can only be a positive thing. If the right sorts of trees are planted in the rights sorts of environments, which was unfortunately not always the case, we will see an improved ecosystem and biodiversity in those given areas. The Minister of State and his colleagues have done huge work on this but I would like to see progress. Unless the Minister of State can correct me, and I would welcome him doing so, I have not see that progress just yet.

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