Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2020
949. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of each of the Seeds for Nature commitments; the outstanding actions that need to be carried out; the timeframe for completion of the commitments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12486/20]
View answerI announced the Seeds for Nature charter at the first National Biodiversity Conference in February 2019. The charter comprises a suite of commitments for nature and biodiversity involving a number of Government Departments, state agencies, private sector and non-governmental organisations to support, scale up and fast track the implementation of the National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP). The current Plan, Ireland's 3rd, runs from 2017 to 2021 and captures the objectives, targets and actions for biodiversity to be undertaken by a wide range of government, civil society and private sectors to achieve Ireland's Vision for Biodiversity.
While the commitments made were voluntary and not subject to reporting, my Department is tracking and charting progress and a full report will issue on progress in the autumn. Several of the Seeds have been realised and many are of an open ended nature where work is ongoing.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine launched The Clean Oceans Initiative, which saw approximately 202.3 tonnes of marine plastic waste from 12 of Ireland's busiest fishing ports and 53.7 tonnes of used fishing nets collected for recycling during the first year. Funding to support this Initiative was made available under Ireland's European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), in providing on-board storage facilities and on-shore infrastructure for environmentally friendly disposal of all plastics, ghost fishing gear and other waste recovered at sea.
Significant progress has been made in the commitment to expand Ireland's network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). An expert Advisory Group was established in October 2019 to provide advice and recommendations on the process by which an expansion of the network may be achieved. The expert group's intensive work includes consideration of existing spatial protection measures, economic, social and cultural needs, advising on the processes required for the future creation/extension of Ireland's MPAs and consideration of the gaps in existing legislation that are required to be addressed in order to underpin and effectively manage the future MPA network.
Funding for the National Seed Bank has been approved and the bank is forecast to be operational by autumn 2020, with some seeds already collected and ready to be transferred to the seed bank in due course. With the establishment of Coillte Nature in June 2019, the necessary permissions to work on restoring Hazelwood Forest, a 130ha woodland in a Special Are of Conservation on the banks of Lough Gill have been sought, with work scheduled to begin later this year. Gas Networks Ireland's work towards a net positive impact on biodiversity included a number of community engagement initiatives, such as nature walks to educate staff and biodiversity awareness talks for communities and schools.
Progress on my Department's commitments are outlined in the table below:
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DCHG Seed for Nature |
Update |
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Double the fund for Heritage and Biodiversity officers to implement biodiversity actions, including action to tackle Invasive Alien Species at local level (co-delivered with the City and County Managers' Association). |
Increased funding made available to local authorities in 2019 and 2020. |
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Work with An Garda Síochána to progress a Memorandum of Understanding that provides for a closer working relationship, particularly for combatting wildlife crime. |
Discussions with An Garda Síochána are at an advanced stage on the finalisation of joint working arrangements. |
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Run a Communications Campaign to inspire and motivate Irish citizens to take action for nature. |
The Department has harnessed and increased the reach of its social media platforms to communication messages supporting Nature to Irish citizens, which includes the launch of a #LoveNature #DuilsaDúlra campaign during National Biodiversity Week, with daily updates, including competitions, inspiring pictures, videos and information on Ireland's natural heritage. |
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Establish an Irish Business and Biodiversity Platform with the Minister for Business, Heather Humphreys T.D. The Platform will promote best practice and seek commitments for biodiversity action and reporting from the private sector. Founding members (in principle, subject to Terms of Reference) include Gas Networks Ireland, EirGrid, Kepak, Dawn Meats, Coillte and Bord na Móna. |
A contract has been awarded for a scoping study to enhance the contribution that businesses can make to achieving national biodiversity policy objectives. Work will begin on this study within the coming month and the outcome will shape the establishment of a Business and Biodiversity Platform. |
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Establish a Climate Action Programme within my Department. Provide funding for research to improve our understanding of the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and also for assessing the potential of nature-based solutions for mitigating and adapting to climate change. We will join forces with the EPA to support a bid for transnational funding on these important societal challenges. |
Two Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plans were launched in November 2019, and are being progressed by the Department under the Government's Climate Action Plan. These set out the actions needed to protect heritage from the impacts of climate change, and which cover Biodiversity and Built and Architectural Heritage. Research funding to improve our understanding of the impacts of climate change on biodiversity has been approved for 2020-2022. |
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Promote draft legislation introducing a biodiversity duty which will place a requirement on public bodies to embed biodiversity in carrying out their functions as to promote or restore nature. |
The Wildlife (Amendment) Bill passed final stages in the Seanad in November 2019, with final amendments due to be presented to the Dáil prior to the dissolution of the 32nd Dáil. The legislation provides inter alia for the placing of a public duty on public bodies to promote the conservation of biodiversity. |
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Undertake a Financial Needs Assessment for biodiversity to determine what we need to spend to achieve our national targets and work towards a resource mobilisation strategy for the National Biodiversity Action Plan. |
A Financial Needs Assessment study has been initiated in conjunction with UCD. |
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Provide a small grant scheme to help specialist biodiversity recorders carry out field surveys on some of our most under-studied species. |
NPWS Grants Scheme for small recording projects advertised in July 2019 and again in 2020. Five projects were supported in 2019 and 8 are being supported in 2020. |
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Make a proposal to Government on Natural Capital to raise awareness across Government of the natural capital approach to valuing and accounting for the benefits that nature provides to people and to the economy. |
Work is progressing in developing proposals for Government in relation to Natural Capital. |
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Fund the work the Biodiversity Forum in overseeing the delivery of the National Biodiversity Action Plan. |
Funding provided. |
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Continue to fund the National Biodiversity Data Centre and its citizen science programmes. |
Funding provided. |
