Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 January 2022
452. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the active management plans operated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63077/21]
View answerIreland’s six National Parks are managed as Category II National Parks under the criteria set out by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Accordingly, all National Parks in Ireland are fully owned and managed by the State. and all are actively managed, inter alia, for habitat conservation purposes.
In 2017, the partnership between the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department and Fáilte Ireland was created to achieve the shared goal of further developing quality experiences at our National Parks and Nature Reserves. One major output from my Department's Strategic Partnership with Fáilte Ireland, was a Masterplan for the six National Parks and Nature Reserves. This provides a high level and integrated blueprint for the NPWS to invest in and better manage the Parks for conservation, biodiversity and visitor alike. In effect, it enables the aligning of conservation objectives of the Parks with increasing visitor appeal and numbers. The Masterplan guides the phased development of these enhanced visitor facilities and improved visitor experiences based on research into international best practice. My Department intends to produce visitor and management plans for its National Parks on an on-going basis.
As part of my Department’s continuing commitment and contribution to protecting our heritage and recreation product, it has been exploring ways to optimise the sustainable potential of heritage sites under our control in a way that is compatible with conservation objectives. In this context, it should be noted that my Department negotiated the extension of Wicklow Mountains National Park by purchasing almost 4,900 acres of Dublin Uplands at Glenasmole in 2016 at a cost of €800,000. In 2017, the entire Wild Nephin area was consolidated into the ownership of the NPWS. This creates a State – owned re-wilding project of over 11,000 hectares and aims to provide increased nature conservation benefits and biodiversity as well as enhanced recreational and social benefits through the ‘re-wilding’ of the forest which adjoins the National Park.
Given the resources available within our National Parks and Nature Reserves, I am of course mindful of the need to focus on the core responsibilities relating to the management of the existing Parks and Reserves lands; my Department is focused upon conservation objectives for Natura 2000 sites in the first instance. Ireland's 3rd National Biodiversity Plan runs from 2017 to 2021 and captures the objectives, targets and actions for biodiversity to be undertaken by a wide range of stakeholders in government, civil society and private sectors to achieve Ireland’s Vision for Biodiversity not just in our own National Parks, but countrywide.
