IF YOU want to find out where our remaining red squirrels live or track the progress of the migrant hawker dragonfly, a new website launched yesterday will give you all the answers.
The National Biodiversity Mapping System has gathered all available information on Ireland’s flora and fauna and has made it available online.
Including maps and aerial photographs of habitats throughout the country, it represents the first comprehensive information system on Ireland’s biodiversity.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley, who officially launched the site, said the database already contained over 400,000 records of 3,721 species.
All are illustrated on background maps with photographs and information on the species.
Mr Gormley said our biodiversity was a fundamental building block of our economy and was essential to our health and wellbeing. “One of the reasons I got into this whole area is that growing up on the banks of the Shannon, I remember how rich the river was in terms of fish life, perch, pike, salmon and eel.
“Look how depleted that resource has become and that makes us all the poorer. Biodiversity is the richness of all life around us.”
Liam Lysaght, director of the National Biodiversity Data Centre, said the system would help us answer questions such as how many species we have, where they occur and what changes are taking place.
“It will also help identify very early on, where invasive species are occurring, so that they can be tackled locally before becoming more widespread,” he said.
“After habitat loss, invasive species are considered the next biggest threat to the conservation of biodiversity. Early intervention to stop the spread of invasive species is both essential and cost-effective,” he said.
“An early warning system is needed to record the arrival of species, determine their status and distribution and provide information to the appropriate authorities so they can take action.”
He said he hoped the next stage in the development of the system would be the inclusion of our cultural heritage, especially our archaeological heritage.
He said vast amounts of new material had been uncovered during the last decade because of the amount of development work and it was vital all of this be recorded and displayed in the same way.
Conor Newman, chairman of the Heritage Council which established the National Biodiversity Data Centre, said the mapping system would bring biodiversity information into the 21st century.
Dr Liam Downey of the data centre said the mapping system was constantly being added to and while the current number of records was nearly half a million, he expected there would be one million records available by the end of the year.
The team used the spread of the migrant hawker dragonfly, which has been found in two locations in Ireland to illustrate how the system could be used to track the change in distribution in species caused by climate change.
Over the past nine years, its range has moved north-westwards from continental Europe, spreading throughout Britain to Ireland’s south and east coasts.
The website is www.biodiversityireland.ie and click on biodiversity maps and follow the links.