THE MINISTER for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has announced legislation placing “a biodiversity duty” on all public bodies.
Jimmy Deenihan launched Actions for Biodiversity 2011-2016, Ireland’s second national biodiversity plan, in the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin.
Biodiversity, he said, would have to be taken into account in all relevant plans and programmes drawn up by public bodies and in all new legislation drawn up by the State.
Government departments and State agencies, in particular those involved with agriculture, forestry, fisheries, regional policy and planning, tourism, health, enterprise and employment, transport, research and education, would prepare sectoral biodiversity action plans.
These would be in line with the aims of the national biodiversity plan to ensure and promote the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
“Our land, water and forests provide us with food, clean water, building materials and other essentials and underpin vital economic sectors such as agriculture and tourism. For those reasons alone we should strive to protect what we have,” he said.
Mr Deenihan also said the Government intended to adopt a policy of “green procurement” to integrate environmental concerns into all public sector procurement.
He will chair a steering group to drive the issue of awareness within Government departments, local authorities and State agencies for the implementation of policy and decisions on biodiversity.
Strategic objectives of the plan were outlined by Dr Ciarán O’Keeffe, a director of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, who said recent studies had valued Ireland’s biodiversity at at least €2.6 billion.
He said the first objective was to mainstream biodiversity in the decision-making process across all sectors and secondly, to substantially strengthen the knowledge base for conservation, management and sustainable use of biodiversity.
It was also planned to increase awareness and appreciation of biodiversity and ecosystems, to conserve and restore biodiversity and ecosystem services in the wider countryside.
