Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am very grateful for the opportunity to speak today. I take this opportunity to formally welcome the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Change report on the examination of the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss. I express my thanks to members of the committee, who worked collaboratively and very diligently to produce the report in a relatively short timeframe. I also thank the Chair, Deputy Leddin. I followed much of the proceedings and the level of engagement was wonderful throughout. I acknowledge the contribution of the various expert witnesses who assisted the committee in its examination of the recommendations and those who provided written submissions. We are all indebted to the members of the both the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss and the Children and Young People’s Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, who invested considerable time and energy in the work, on which this report is based. That citizens' assembly was one of the first of its kind and could act as a template for engagement with children and young people on a range of other topics.

Building on the written submissions to the Oireachtas joint committee, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, of my Department examined the recommendations and calls to action of both assemblies and the Oireachtas joint committee report and is in the process of collating responses from across government. A report on draft responses to both assemblies was presented to the senior officials' group on the environment and climate change earlier this month for review and discussion. The process of establishing the final Government position on the recommendations of both assemblies and the Oireachtas joint committee is ongoing and a final report outlining the Government response will be published in the coming months.

The Oireachtas joint committee called for the recommendations and calls to action as set out in the reports from both assemblies to be accounted for within the national biodiversity action plan and superseding plans and to be examined and considered for implementation by the relevant Departments. It is worth noting that the committee report contains 86 recommendations, the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss report has 159 recommendations, the children's assembly made 59 calls to action and the NBAP has 194 actions. There are linkages across all processes. I will present some of the main areas where we are demonstrating progress and also some areas where there are perceived gaps.

Our fourth national biodiversity action plan was published in January and we estimate that more than 80% of the recommendations and 90% of the calls to action are in progress or captured in the fourth NBAP. This plan strives for a “whole of government, whole of society” approach to the governance and conservation of biodiversity. It is an umbrella policy that, together with focused biodiversity action, draws out biodiversity-relevant actions from other policies. Actions within the plan will support the vision that this biodiversity be valued, conserved, restored and sustainably used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people. This is the first national biodiversity action plan to be published on a statutory footing with legal requirements for public bodies to consider their "biodiversity duty" to integrate biodiversity into their plans, policies and programmes and to report on their progress.

Of particular relevance to this debate, we are expanding the network of national parks and nature reserves across the country through the establishment of new ones and increasing investment in the ones we already have. We are also publishing legislation to provide a legal basis for the parks and putting management plans in place for each one. We are on track to have draft heads of Bill published and plans in place by the end of this year. Questions of accessibility for people, as raised in the report, will be considered as part of this process.

There is better co-ordination across government through the strengthening of internal reporting structures and cross-departmental collaboration. The call for the delivery of the national biodiversity action plan to be overseen by the Department of the Taoiseach is an interesting one. It is certainly vital that the Taoiseach’s Department play a leading role on the internal biodiversity working group. I know biodiversity and nature are key issues for the new Taoiseach.

I am sure we can count on his support in this regard.

There is also better oversight of public expenditure that impacts biodiversity, with new systems to track and report on measures that improve or adversely affect biodiversity. We are also recommitting to reviewing nature governance across the State, including the roles and responsibilities of Departments and Government bodies and agencies, in biodiversity action. We are strengthening action on wildlife crime within the NPWS through strategic collaboration with An Garda Síochána. This involves building on our memorandum of understanding with An Garda Síochána to deepen collaboration; holding a wildlife crime conference; ensuring the Garda, Judiciary and customs officials have the necessary training supports; and continuing to recruit rangers to increase boots-on-the-ground enforcement. This approach is having a real impact.

Additionally, we are reviewing the Wildlife Act 1976 to improve its enforceability. A public consultation on this will be announced soon. We are ramping up efforts on our obligations to conserve protected habitats and species, rolling out more marine designations under the EU nature directives and putting a real push behind efforts to deliver conservation objectives in protected areas. This includes ramping up raised and blanket bog restoration. We are also targeting our work on invasive and problematic species; legislating to update existing invasive species laws; developing a new national management plan and biosecurity protocols; growing all-island co-operation; and resourcing and implementing on-the-ground actions to control, manage and, where possible or feasible, eradicate those species completely, including in protected areas and national parks.

There has been a rapid uptake of the biodiversity officers programme. We are very close to having a biodiversity officer in every county and, by the end of the year, the set should be complete, along with a local biodiversity action plan. I am very grateful to the Heritage Council for its collaboration on this work. The National Biodiversity Data Centre is now on a stable footing and working closely with the NPWS and other stakeholders on key priorities, including invasive species and data collection. The OPW has developed its own biodiversity action plan and recruited a biodiversity officer to help implement it. In the NBAP, it is committed to ensuring that all significant drainage, including arterial drainage, is assessed for its implications for biodiversity and also to enhance knowledge and capacity on nature-based solutions for catchment management. It is also reviewing existing flood relief schemes to identify opportunities for the retrofit of biodiversity enhancement measures.

We are moving from an era of demonstration to practice and, through the extensive engagement of amazing EU LIFE programmes, such as Wild Atlantic Nature, Corncrake LIFE and LIFE on Machair, a high level of acceptance is emerging among farmers that a results-based system is a fair approach. This approach is underpinned by the €1.5 billion agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, under the CAP strategic plan, which will contribute significantly to achieving improved biodiversity, climate, air and water quality outcomes, while delivering income support for up to 50,000 farm families.

We have started to work with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, on the breeding waders European innovation partnership, EIP, with staff now in situ, which it is to be hoped will deliver what is necessary to transform the fortunes of these vulnerable birds. As well as this, we are working closely with that Department to implement the recommendations of the deer management strategy group, which is a very important piece of work in my view, to sustainably manage deer populations in Ireland. Crucially, we are increasing collaboration on nature-friendly farming by expanding key schemes, such as the NPWS farm plan scheme. That has been transformative. I visited many of those projects throughout the country in recent years. The forestry programme also has generous incentives for farmers and public bodies to plant mixed native woodlands on suitable lands.

Our semi-State bodies are also making positive commitments for nature. Bord na Móna is using best practice to rehabilitate post-production peatlands at a serious scale and is working with the NPWS on several peatland restoration projects. They should be commended for their action on this front. Coillte has set out ambitious targets to enhance and restore biodiversity on its estate. We are working closely with it to get the best results for nature. I would like to see it go further, in particular for the hen harrier, both within the special protection areas, SPAs, and in the important non-designated breeding and wintering grounds. There is also much to be done in managing sensitive sites for nature within the Coillte estate. We need Coillte and the NPWS to deepen their working relationship. I would like to see much stronger collaboration and partnership on key nature sites.

Turning to new initiatives, projects such as the All-Island Climate and Biodiversity Research Network have enabled the mobilisation of more than €40 million in funding for a climate plus centre of excellence. Through climate plus, researchers will work to deliver recommendations for the transformative change urgently needed to tackle the climate, biodiversity and water crises and complement ongoing research across the wider academic community. The Business for Biodiversity platform, which the NPWS and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are supporting, will encourage and incentivise Irish businesses to assess their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity, with a view to managing and availing of associated risks and opportunities.

Community Foundation Ireland is working to empower communities to take action for nature. Its biodiversity fund, which is co-funded by the NPWS, is promoting biodiversity action at local level by partnering qualified ecologists and community groups to produce community biodiversity action plans, CBAPs. Again, this is very impactful work. I have seen many of these plans enacted over the past number of years. Each plan catalogues the plants, wildlife, habitats and geographical features that comprise a local area’s biodiversity and makes recommendations to protect, conserve and restore them. Upon completion of their CBAPs, community groups can then apply for funding to implement the recommendations. To date, more than €1 million has been granted to deliver 181 CBAPs across all Twenty-six Counties.

My officials have started exploring ways in which the rights of nature could be formally recognised, including the potential for constitutional change. Conversations are being had with key academics and specialists in this area with a view to setting up an expert group to consider the issue in detail. I note the point raised by the Ceann Comhairle in his opening remarks in this regard. Of course, other plans and policies also address some of the recommendations, including the forthcoming river basin management plan, the national marine planning framework, the Common Fisheries Policy, the climate action plan, the bioeconomy plan and the food waste management plan.

However, while a significant proportion of recommendations have been implemented or are in progress as a result of the commitments in the NBAP, and other plans mentioned, it is clear that further enhanced and targeted approaches are needed at scale to meet the full ambition of both assemblies and reverse the trends of biodiversity loss. We have more work to do in five key areas. The committee called for increased training, education and awareness of biodiversity, and the development of a national strategy to support the domestic and EU ambition on biodiversity, soil, forestry and water. The national biodiversity action plan allows for progress in this area, but does not fully address the calls for mandatory biodiversity training across the Civil Service, or for education programmes on biodiversity to be introduced in sectors beyond agriculture, for instance. The proposal has merit, however. I call on other Departments and sectors to consider what more they can do in this regard. The NPWS is collaborating with SOLAS and education and training boards, ETBs, on a nature skills training programme for staff and contractors in local authorities, Irish Water and the OPW who are working in sensitive environments. This kind of initiative is vital. We need to see broader awareness across all sectors of society and the economy.

There are calls for the establishment of a strategy for nature-based solutions to optimise opportunities for flood risk management; we briefly spoke about this during Topical Issues today. The OPW has committed to increasing its knowledge in this area, as I mentioned, but flooding is a key area of interest for the new Minister of State, my colleague, Deputy O’Donnell, so perhaps this is something that the OPW could look towards. Nature-based solutions offer real opportunities in response to the challenge of flooding and, as we all know, this problem is only going to get worse in a warmer world. We need to take a much broader strategic approach to using nature-based solutions.

There are also calls for the use of natural capital accounting to support our biodiversity goals. The recently published natural capital accounting guide from the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, advocates for the use of this approach to inform decision-making. This is something that is already under way within the Central Statistics Office through their work on the system of environmental economic accounting, SEEA, ecosystem accounting. This is a vitally important programme of work that provides for data relating to nature, carbon, water and land use to be synthesised and presented in a format that empowers policymakers to make choices for the environment as an integrated whole. I strongly believe this is where we need to be. It is a key that could unlock so much progress. I would like to see more resources applied to this area.

The committee suggests that regulations should be introduced to require the reuse and recycling of precious metals and materials, and that enforcement of such regulations should be prioritised over the use or extraction of new materials to protect biodiversity. This is common sense, but it is also deeply complex. I encourage the relevant Departments to engage with each other and establish a way forward.

The committee recommends that further consideration be given to biodiversity in planning policy, including the concept of biodiversity net gain. My Department is engaging with public authorities and private sector champions in this area, who are already testing some of these principles. However, I would like us to go further and review international best practice on the implementation of biodiversity net gain in planning and development.

This will allow us to identify potential applications in Ireland. What is happening in the UK on biodiversity net gain is very interesting and has the potential to drive investment into biodiversity both on public and private land with long-term funding. We should watch this carefully.

I look forward to the contributions of Deputies in this important debate. Again, I thank the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action for its work on the report. I also thank the citizens' assembly and children and young people's assembly for helping to better inform how we collectively approach tackling the issue of biodiversity loss.

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