State wildlife agency to play ‘stronger role in protecting nature’

Major reforms of the structure and operation of the National Parks and Wildlife Service combined with its first strategic plan “will enable the organisation to play a stronger role in protecting nature and supporting biodiversity”, according to Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien.

Mr O’Brien with Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan published on Friday the NPWS’s first strategic plan – for 2023-2025 – and issued a progress report on actions being pursued since it became an executive agency last June, with primary responsibility for nature conservation, wildlife protection and presentation and preservation of national parks and nature reserves.

It follows publication of a Government-commissioned review of the NPWS and action plan last year. The review found staff were “dedicated, passionate and knowledgeable” but it was “not aligned effectively” to protect the State’s ecology and natural heritage.

A new organisational structure – with co-ordinated focus through six directorates – have been put in place over the past 13 months.

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Mr O’Brien, whose department the NPWS falls under, welcomed the input of the public as well as stakeholders.

“It is clear from public submissions that our parks and nature reserves are places of learning, reflection and recreation and are held in high esteem by those who visit them.

“The feedback also told us that the challenges facing nature are well understood and there is strong public support for greater activity to protect nature. This strategic plan responds to that desire,” he added.

Mr Noonan acknowledged NPWS reform started from a difficult place with “the majority of our EU-protected habitats are in unfavourable conservation status with almost half declining further, a third of wild bee species are close to extinction, 60 per cent of birds are red- or amber-listed, 30 per cent of species are of inadequate or bad status, 30 per cent of our semi-natural grasslands have been lost in the last 10 years”.

“This, in the context of long-standing resource challenges and a need for organisational renewal, was a stark challenge,” he added.

“My priority is protection, conservation and restoration of Ireland’s biodiversity. To achieve this, Ireland requires a properly resourced, staffed and equipped NPWS. Funding has increased in recent years and is now approximately €80 million. Staff numbers have also increased by 35 per cent since December 2020 from 349 to 471.”

This will empower the NPWS to play its part in responding to the biodiversity emergency, both at home and on the international stage, he said and is “clear expression of how NPWS intends to drive the change required”.

NPWS director general Niall Ó Donnchú said the country was “at a point of inflection on how we serve nature. Business as usual is not an option. The necessity for a changed relationship with nature is self-evident”.

He told The Irish Times he was happy with the pace of change with recruitment ramped up, new directorates in place and its programmes overhauled.

“A small few areas are a little behind, but marginally.”

Recruitment ranged across wildlife rangers, senior ecologists and managers, he said. The organisation had been turned on its head, while getting closer operationally to special areas of conservation (SACs), special protection areas (SPAs), national parks and nature reserves.

Being an executive agency gave the NPWS more autonomy on delivering of programmes, improved access to resources and “we can move more quickly” he said.

New appointments would enable the agency to improve monitoring of sites and species, and to enhance data management that will inform interventions, Mr Ó Donnchú said.