Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 January 2005
1303 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will consider increasing the size and number of national parks in order to protect key environmental and tourism interests. [34156/04]
View answer1346 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has satisfied himself with the number of national parks in the State; if the number of such parks can be increased and the size of the existing parks extended; if his Department has other mechanisms at its disposal to ensure that important parts of the countryside are protected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1271/05]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1303 and 1346 together.
At present there are six national parks in the State. These are in the Wicklow Mountains, Killarney, the Burren, Connemara, Ballycroy, County Mayo and Glenveagh. Ireland's national parks are State-owned and are managed in accordance with the guidelines set down by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The IUCN, which is affiliated to the United Nations, is the international authority which sets the criteria for the protected areas of the world. Over the years, the Government has pursued a policy of increasing the number and size of our national parks where possible. This has resulted in a growth in the number of national parks from one in 1972, to six at the present time. Moreover, we have continued to enlarge the area of these parks through the acquisition of adjacent habitat-rich lands as they become available.
Apart from the State purchase of habitat-rich lands by agreement, the National Parks and Wildlife Service of my Department has other mechanisms available to ensure that important parts of the countryside are protected. These are the designation and protection of ecologically important areas under the European Union (Natural Habitats) Regulations 1997, which transpose the 1979 EU Birds and 1992 EU Habitats Directives, as well as the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000. The 1997 regulations provide the basis for protecting special protection areas for birds and special areas of conservation for habitats and species whose conservation is of international importance. Under the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000, natural heritage areas, whose conservation is of national importance, are designated. These designated areas, which in total constitute about 14% of the national territory, are mainly situated in privately-owned lands.
