After the Nature Restoration Law was sanctioned by the European Council of Ministers earlier this year in June, it signalled an immediate call-to-action for all member states. They were urged to make noteworthy strides towards rejuvenating nature throughout the region. Minister of State for Heritage, Malcolm Noonan, alerted that the current situation is a biodiversity crisis and this law would instigate an unmatched surge of commitment and funds to counteract the issue at once.
We are still yet to uncover what shape this “unprecedented action and investment” would adopt. The Minister furthered his statement following that, the immediate priority now shifts to establishing Ireland’s Nature Restoration Plan. Should the government’s plan for devise a national Nature Restoration plan span out over a two-year period, then the set timeframe to achieve these mandatory targets shrinks to four years. With this, instantaneous and considerable restoration efforts ought to be undertaken.
Amongst the European nations, Ireland is infamous for enacting laws and decrees without supporting it with the necessary resources, primarily the political will to implement them. It is understood what methods work effectively are and what type of restoration is required, as operations have already begun in numerous significant localities. The current need does not lie in the elaboration of new strategies and plans, which solely cannot rectify the problem.
What is urgently required is a firm commitment of substantial and continuous financial backing for public institutions, including Bord na Móna, Coillte Nature, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, to escalate their efforts on the field. This can be employed to hire and train a high number of adept personnel who are urgently needed to undertake hands-on tasks such as rehydrating bogs, transforming conifer plantations into mixed forests, eradicating obstructions in rivers, and planting trees along with hedges on agricultural land.
The leftovers of indigenous woodland in the country are mostly swarmed with invasive plants such as the rhododendron and removing them is an economic burden in millions. Each of these woody bushes needs to be cut manually and the stumps treated to avoid any subsequent growth. Although these tasks may take considerable time and effort, some areas like the national parks and Coillte lands have already begun working on them.
A national plan is already in place with the aim of managing the invading deer population that largely hinders the natural growth of mixed forests. However, immediate expansion of this plan calls for additional funding and a considerable increase in the workforce. Various non-profit organisations are actively participating in the reparation of ecosystems and wildlife, conducting notable work on the practical level.
BirdWatch Ireland, for instance, oversees several sites designed for bird species such as waders and seabirds. These locations utilise extensive habitat management and predator exclusion to ensure the areas are secure for nesting. Their efforts have seen impressive results, most notably at Kilcoole on the coast of Wicklow. In collaboration with the NPWS, BirdWatch Ireland managed to significantly boost the breeding success rate of the endangered Little Tern and waders like lapwings.
A distinctive project, undertaken by University College Dublin and Watermark Coffee, is striving to reintroduce native oysters back to Dublin Bay, returning these long-absent shellfish to their natural environments.
Over the past two decades, several prominent bird species such as the Red Kite and the White-tailed Eagle have been successfully returned to Ireland, thanks to the dedicated efforts of the Golden Eagle Trust and the NPWS. These past achievements indicate the potential for recovering other extinct species, which can be achieved throughout the nation with sufficient staff and funds.
Numerous private landholders are also undertaking ecological restoration works independently and frequently at their own cost. These works encompass planting native trees to restore smaller forests, creating species-rich grasslands for pollinators and constructing ponds to support aquatic wildlife.
To date, the Native Woodland Scheme has granted support for over 7,200 hectares of native forest land. It’s crucial to dramatically increase tree-planting efforts to restore our indigenous broadleaf woods. A large number of landholders, local councils, and communities are implementing the all-Ireland pollinator plan, which involves restoring flower-rich grasslands, field perimeters, and parkland to support declining insect populations and consequently, the natural biodiversity of the countryside. Assuming adequate land and financing were available, more landholders would likely be incentivised to follow their lead.
Exciting as they are, these projects merely mark the commencement of a substantial endeavour to refurbish nature in one of Europe’s most extensively modified territories – Ireland. Now, the goal falls upon preparing the multitude of individuals needed to perform the restoration tasks on-site. It’s about time we lace up our boots and plunge into the task at hand. There shouldn’t be any need to allocate two years in devising a strategy for an immediate action that is required to be completed within a timeframe of six years. The process of restoration, already in progress, demands an urgent amplification, leveraged by a significant funding boost from the government. Such an investment in Ireland’s future is not only critical but severely belated. Richard Nairn, an ecologist, is the author of ‘Future Wild: Nature Restoration in Ireland’, due for publication by New Island Books on October 1st.