Press Release

23.11.2006

Ireland grossly under-funding Nature Conservation

Results of a report released today by the global conservation organization WWF and An Taisce show that Ireland is falling behind our European counterparts in our efforts to implement key nature conservation measures. It recognizes that Ireland has been taking important steps to implement European nature conservation legislation, which is the main legal tool currently in existence for achieving the 2010 goal to halt biodiversity loss. However, the findings also show that major challenges arise in the government’s failure to allocate sufficient resources for implementation. The report states that countries like Ireland who fall far short of the European average need to follow the positive examples set by other EU member states. These show that improving our record is "primarily a question of political will". It is clear that financial support for Natura 2000 – the European network of important nature conservation sites- is grossly deficient in Ireland.

In a thriving economy, it is easy to forget just how much we depend on a clean and healthy environment. Indeed this is core to improving quality of life. All in all Ireland is on the right path towards establishing a sustainable future for our natural treasures, but our government is simply not doing enough to achieve that goal.

"Ireland has made progress in establishing a network of nature conservation sites, and drawing up protection and management measures for these national natural treasures, but these projects are incomplete. Challenges still remain, especially in the lack of human and financial resources" states Anja Murray of An Taisce’s Natural Environment Unit.

The small increase announced in the recent Budget allocation to nature conservation will do little to rectify the huge shortfalls facing this area in the past decade, and the quantity of catch-up to be done.

"Most Irish people now want a good quality of environment, and recent research indicates that our happiness is closely linked with the quality of the environment in which we live". Ireland now has several strong instruments to achieve good environmental quality, and a thriving economy to match this.

According to An Taisce, the Irish WWF partner in carrying out the research, the findings show that "the Irish government has started its homework, but need more action, more money and better communication if we are to save Ireland’s declining biodiversity".

The report offers a number of key recommendations in support of better implementation of Europe’s most important conservation tools, the Habitats and Birds Directives. Anja Murray of An Taisce urges the Irish Government to do more: "the age of sidelining the natural environment on which we depend is past. Ireland needs to face up to our responsibilities in these areas. The path is clear, and there can be no more excuses. In tackling these final hurdles we can become a truly positive example for all future EU Members".

Further information from:

Anja Murray, An Taisce – The National Trust for Ireland

anja.murray@antaisce.org

The report is available from:

Natura 2000 is the network of protected sites in the European Union that derives from the Birds and Habitats Directives and currently covers about 18 % of the EU’s landmass. The main aim of Natura 2000 is to ensure sustainable management of natural resources in these "hot-spots" of biodiversity. This can put a stop to further degradation of habitats and the loss of species while continuing to allow economic activity, such as farming and infrastructure development; provided the conservation aims are not violated! Therefore, Natura 2000 represents the world’s most modern and ambitious approach to halt the loss of biodiversity.