The Irish Peatland Conservation Association has called on the government to finalise Natural Heritage Area (NHA) designations in order to work towards reversing biodiversity loss.
The comments follow the recent publication of the final report from the National Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss.
Over many meetings the assembly deliberated over the issues surrounding biodiversity in Ireland and also received expert advice and evidence from stakeholders, scientists and scholars.
The Irish Peatland Conservation Council made a written submission and also presented to the assembly the case for peatlands, and how important they are with regards to Ireland’s biodiversity.
NHAs
The report from the assembly included 159 recommendations covering 86 sectoral specific recommendations and 73 high-level recommendations.
According to the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, the Citizen’s Assembly expressed their disappointment at the state for failure to address the problem of biodiversity loss and failure to implement their own policies and laws effectively.
The council commented: “It is refreshing to see that actions IPCC have seen as necessary for effective peatland conservation, such as the formal designation of the Raised Bog Natural Heritage Areas (NHA), cross-agency (national and international) coordination, adequate funding for restoration and management of protected sites, increasing educational awareness and integrating biodiversity management in to all government agencies and state bodies, have all been addressed by the report.
The council welcomed the recommendations to the government, and said it sees this as an opportunity to make the societal and national changes needed to reverse biodiversity loss.
“We know what needs to be done. On a citizen level, we can all help peatlands and biodiversity by choosing peat-free in the garden today,” the council added.
“On a government level, the state must fully finalise the NHA designations and protect those sites, only then can we say that we are actively working towards biodiversity loss reversal and supporting Ireland’s natural habitats.
“We must ensure that the protected areas are actually protected and that everything is done to encourage the restoration of our environment, that the Citizen’s Assembly recommendations are worked through, implemented and that adequate supports are rolled out for all industries and stakeholders that are to be affected.”
The Irish Peatland Conservation Council is a charity based at the Bog of Allen Nature Centre in Co. Kildare with the aim of conserving a representative portion of Irish peatlands.