Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the issue of biodiversity and to mark biodiversity week. We have an awful lot to do in this area. The Minister of State will know that better than anyone else. He has a reputation for passion in this area. I look forward to working with him as best we can over this term.

In Ireland, we very often trade on the incredible beauty and richness of our landscapes. It is probably our most marketable asset, if it can be put that way. Millions of people come here every year to experience our 40 shades of green for themselves, but the unfortunate reality is that our prized asset, namely, our natural environment, is at serious risk. Just this week, we saw reports that 40 shades of green algae have taken over Lady's Island Lake in County Wexford, which is supposedly a special area of conservation. Excessive nutrients in the water have given rise to a high production of algae, which grow at such a density they block out the light and stop the plants that were growing on the lake bed, and stop anything living in the lake. The EPA has reported that agricultural run-off is the source of the excess nutrient levels. The lake is dead. Locals cannot even let their dogs swim in it.

Our landscapes and the beauty we all enjoy in this country are only as rich as our biodiversity. Our ecosystems are in a critical state. It is not an exaggeration to say we are facing an ecological crisis. Some 91% of our habitats are in an unfavourable condition and 15% of our protected species are in decline. The fact we had a Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, and a Children and Young People's Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, is testament to the crisis we face, which is already here. We know what needs to be done. We have the reports and recommendations of those assemblies. The first three recommendations of the citizens' assembly are illuminating. They each point to a failure by the State in protecting our biodiversity and environment and call for urgent interventions, including just enforcing existing laws relating to biodiversity. I appreciate that many of the recommendations contained in the assemblies' reports are being put into action. This Government must continue on that path and ensure that each recommendation is fully realised. That will require a redoubling of the commitment to addressing our biodiversity crisis with sustained funding for initiatives that seek to improve our habitats, waterways and air quality.

We in the Labour Party have consistently called for a more active and ambitious State in respect of housing, healthcare and in our efforts to combat the climate and biodiversity crises. These are the most existential crises we face, not just as a country but as a species. This is about protecting our island and our seas but it also about protecting our future. The State has a crucial role to play, in particular, our semi-States. Bodies such as Coillte and Bord na Móna, for example, control extensive tracts of land where the State could make a huge difference in improving biodiversity and restoring nature. However, their mandates are largely defined in commercial terms. We need to look at what role they can play beyond a primarily economic one. We need to ensure that their objectives and operations align with our climate, biodiversity and nature restoration ambitions. I encourage the Minister of State to work with the Ministers for the environment and agriculture to look into amending the Forestry Act and the Turf Development Act to see what can be done in that regard.

The same can be said for the likes of Teagasc. We could reconstitute that as a food security agency, for example, tasked with working with stakeholders to ensure we are growing more of what we eat. The OPW could be given a stronger role in climate mitigation and mandated to take a more nature-based approach to things such as flood prevention work, as others mentioned, rather than the heavy engineering and concrete-pouring approach that appears to be its current preference, which is something I have direct experience of locally with the Whitechurch stream flood alleviation scheme in Rathfarnham. The point I am trying to make is we need to see a cross-departmental and whole-of-government approach to addressing this crisis, including by using the existing structures within our semi-States.

We are seeing great action at local level. My local authority, South Dublin County Council, is doing incredible work on biodiversity, nature restoration and nature conservation. It is leading by example, which my colleagues in Dublin Mid-West can attest to. Its biodiversity action plan is a superb document. It has been fantastic to see the actions it contains come to fruition over the past number of years. We are seeing great initiatives, such as the restoration of the Tallaght wetlands and the creation of biodiversity habitats along Dodder Valley Park, which was shortlisted for a green award. These areas are teeming with ecological richness and biodiversity. It is really great to see. There is also the development of the Dodder Greenway, a joint initiative between South Dublin County Council and Dublin City Council. While it is not finished yet, the impact the finished portions are having can already be seen in creating new ecosystems and habitats, as well as providing a wonderful asset to our community and preserving existing biodiversity, including our famous kingfisher. It is a great example of the benefits of connecting people with nature, particularly in urban areas.

It is very important that people feel that connection with our environment and recognise their stake in it. They see its intrinsic value. Ensuring continued access to the countryside can play a role here. I will recognise the efforts of the Keep Ireland Open group in this regard. We need to bring people along with us if we are to address the climate and biodiversity crisis. People need to feel and experience the benefit of a healthy and thriving natural environment, as the Minister of State mentioned, be it through our parks, waterways or woodlands, and taking time to do so. People are taking action on an individual level as well as a community level. Community allotments are terrific examples of people coming together and living by that principle of growing what we eat to the greatest extent possible. Organisations such as Community Gardens Ireland are doing fantastic work in connecting people with our ecosystems through the development of community gardens.

I also pay special tribute to Collie Ennis, the biodiversity officer at Trinity College, as someone who has inspired me on a personal level. He has done amazing work in promoting mini-ponds, including one on the Trinity campus that is teeming with ecology. Many of us Dubs will have noticed the rewilding of the former lawns outside the college on College Green. It is a great example of how even a small patch of land can provide such a rich habitat for plants and animals, even in the city centre. My party leader, Deputy Ivana Bacik, has also shown the sort of actions we can take in protecting and enhancing biodiversity in Dublin, with her Dublin Bay Bill. We need to reverse the decline in our rivers, lakes and coastal waters more broadly. As I mentioned, we are seeing the effects of excess nutrients in lakes and rivers all over the country. Ivana's Bill provides a good model to establish some sort of authority to monitor and protect against water pollution, not just in Dublin Bay but in other coastal areas and harbours around the country that are ecologically damaged.

We need to involve all stakeholders in our efforts to restore biodiversity and nature, including communities, environmental organisations, public bodies and, crucially, our farmers. It is vital that farmers are brought with us as we endeavour to tackle this crisis. A lot of the degradation we have seen in our biodiversity and ecosystems is, historically, as a result of farming practices. I acknowledge there is a lot of anxiety among that cohort about the necessary measures we have to take in the agricultural space in order to deal with this crisis. We saw that in some of the responses to the nitrates directive and the EU nature restoration law, especially with regard to rewetting. We urgently need to re-wet a considerable amount of our peatlands but we must do so in a manner that ultimately benefits those who work that land. The principles of a just transition must apply.

I will bring the issue of biodiversity a little closer to home. While walking through the Merrion Street side of our campus, I was glad to see a sign for No Mow May indicating that the grass will not be cut for the month of May to allow wildflowers and wildlife to flourish. The whole idea of having perfectly pristine lawns, be it at Leinster House or our own homes, is an anti-environmental and anti-biodiversity practice. There is an interesting history behind that practice, as an expression of colonialism and classism. The "civilised colonisers" in places like America kept their gardens pristine, at least aesthetically, while the native population lived in the wild. This is not to mention the fact that when we cut our grass, we are essentially colonising the habitats of various types of plant, wildflowers and species, and creating green deserts. It is another one of those things all of us could do to make one small improvement to our biodiversity at an individual level. Beekeepers are warning us that pollinators, such as the native Irish honeybee, are under threat because of issues of habitat destruction and the use of pesticides. Those pollinators are vital in maintaining our ecosystems. This is a threat we need to take seriously. If essential pollinators, such as honeybees, end up going extinct, we will see a massive depletion in ecosystems and further degradation in biodiversity. If the bees die, we die. A small but effective step each of us could quite easily take is to let our gardens and grass go that little bit wilder.

The real beauty in our lawns and gardens is not in their aesthetics but in their role as homes for hundreds of species of flowers and insects.

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