This year’s National Biodiversity Week is celebrating the over 600 designated Natura 2000 sites located across Ireland.
The annual 10-day celebration of wildlife and nature, which began on Friday (May 17) and will run until Sunday (May 26), includes over 200 events.
Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan is urging the public to get to know the nature in their locality.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is supporting this by showcasing some of the protected areas that make up Ireland’s ‘Natura 2000 Network’, the work that is being done to protect them, and the people behind it all.
Throughout the week NPWS staff will host guided walks, dawn chorus events such as ‘bird and breakfast’, and talks from conservation rangers who protect nature and wildlife on a daily basis.
“Community BioBlitzes” will also bring ecologists, wildlife enthusiasts and citizen scientists together to carry out wildlife surveys over the course of one day.
National Biodiversity Week
Natura 2000 is a European network of sites designated for the protection of threatened species and habitats, on both land and sea.
Minister Noonan TD said that most people live near a Natura 2000 site and he encouraged everyone to get outdoors and enjoy them.
“Ireland’s precious natural heritage can be found in cities, towns and villages, as well as farms, forests and coasts, and of course in national parks and nature reserves.
“Many Natura sites are in public ownership and are easily accessible, while others are privately owned and require permission to access.
“The NPWS is hosting events across the country that anyone can take part in. It’s the perfect time to immerse yourself in the natural world and celebrate the wonderful diversity of life on our doorsteps,” he said.
Natura 2000 Day, taking place tomorrow (Tuesday May 21), seeks to highlight Europe’s most precious places for nature.
These are sites that have been designated for species or habitats that are important at a European level under either the Habitats Directive, which are known as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), or the Birds Directive, which are known as Special Protection Areas (SPAs).
According to the European Commission, 65% of people in Europe live within 5km from one of the region’s 27,000 Natura 2000 sites.
Niall Ó Donnchú, director general with the NPWS added that Ireland’s Natura sites are “vital organs of our living systems”.
“Together, they form the latticework which binds us to nature and nature to us. A fracture in any part of that living matrix undermines the entire. In protecting nature, we protect ourselves,” he said.
Earlier this year, the government launched Ireland’s fourth National Biodiversity Action Plan (2023-2030) which aims to change the ways in which we value and protect nature.
Minister for Land Use and Biodiversity in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Senator Pippa Hackett said that “islands of nature and biodiversity” can also be created in cities and towns.
“Planting trees is one of the most effective methods of tackling climate change, as well as contributing to improved biodiversity and water quality.
“My department provides generous funding for recreational woodlands through the NeighbourWoods scheme in the new Forestry Programme,” she said.