Vol. 483 No. 5
13 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the plans, if any, she has to prepare a national plan under the convention on biological diversity; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20619/97]
The Deputy will be aware that Ireland ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1996. Among the aims of the convention are the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and a key means of achieving these is through the development of biodiversity plans by the parties to the convention. A national biodiversity plan is currently being prepared by my Department which will address the areas relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in Ireland.
As I was anxious to have the widest possible participation in the development of the biodiversity plan, I arranged for a public consultation process in July of this year by announcing that such a plan was being prepared and seeking written submissions from interested bodies and individuals. Approximately fifty submissions were received and these are being considered in the context of the drafting of the national biodiversity plan.
The plan will review the state of biological diversity in Ireland and outline the measures which are currently in place for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in Ireland. However, the main focus of the plan will be on setting out strategies and actions to be undertaken for the conservation and sustainable use of such biological diversity in the future. The plan will examine biodiversity at ecosystem, species and the genetic level and it will cover all ecosystems (terrestrial, freshwater and marine) and all taxonomic groups. The plan will pay special attention to the need for the integration of the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity into all relevant sectors and will consider the main sectors which impact on biodiversity, including agriculture, forestry and the marine.
It is my intention to have the plan published during 1998.
