Environmentalists have warned that as many as 29 different species of bird are at risk of extinction in Ireland unless the Government invests €20 million to protect Irish wildlife.
The Heritage Council revealed native breeding grounds and valuable lands are being eroded at such a rate we could face losing some of the country's rarest creatures.
In Ireland over 29 different bird species and 120 species of flowering plants are in serious decline. Those most at risk include the Pearl Mussel, the Barn Owl, Corncrake and six species of bumblebee.
Liam Lysaght, natural heritage officer with the Council, warned: "The situation is serious because everything in nature is interconnected.
"When we lose one species others go into decline and eventually it will effect people - we are all part of the intricate web of nature and we must protect it for our long-term health and well-being."
He said Ireland will not meet its targets to halt the decline in biodiversity by 2010 unless a major new approach to how we manage our environment is adopted.
The country will also face serious fines from the EU under the habitats directive unless a number of unique animals including Ireland's longest living animal, the Pearl Mussel, is protected.
Mr Lysaght said: "We need to take a more holistic view and change the way our landscape is managed if we are to save our wildlife and maintain a healthy environment."
Marking World Biodiversity Day, which takes place tomorrow, campaigners said the stresses humans have put on plant and animal species is causing them to disappear at up to 50 times the natural rate.
The Heritage Council warned Ireland's biodiversity has declined rapidly over the past 30 years mainly due to the impact of unprecedented development, changes in farming such as the overuse of nitrates, removal of hedgerows and draining of wetland, household and industrial pollution and forestry practices.
Ireland's longest living species, the Pearl Mussel, which can live for 120 years is facing extinction in all rivers surveyed where previously healthy populations of the species survived.
Ireland is one of the last places in Europe where the Pearl Mussel survives. Most of those living are now over 100 years old and were born before Independence - the younger Pearl Mussels have not survived because of deteriorating water quality.
In 1990 the Pearl Mussel was found in rural parts of just 12 rivers where there is little forestry and not much use of fertilisers.
A number of Ireland's bumblebees are also facing extinction - mainly because their habitats have altered so drastically over the past 30 years.
Mr Lysaght said changes to EU farm payments favouring a more environmentally friendly approach to land-use need to be implemented quicker.
The Heritage Council wants at least €20m to fund the implementation of a new National Biodiversity Plan 2007 to include,
- A landscape approach to managing biodiversity which would restore habitats for threatened species
- Biodiversity officers in all local authorities
- Local biodiversity plans for every county
- Financial incentives for landowners to restore their land to provide habitats for endangered species.
PA