THE PASSING OF the EU Nature Restoration Law recently may have seemed like an end to interminable wrangling over modest proposals to reverse years of biodiversity decline.
But it is, in fact, just the beginning. Now the hard work begins, to engage, design and implement an ambitious National Restoration Plan which will set nature on the pathway to recovery.
If we want to see how serious our politicians and bureaucrats in Ireland are about designing a plan that works, we will soon have a strong indication in the Hen Harrier Threat Response Plan (HHTRP).
The Hen Harrier, known as the ‘skydancer’ for its spectacular aerial courtship displays breeds in open upland habitats, traditionally nesting in scrub and heather. It is the canary in the coal mine for upland biodiversity in Ireland.
Despite being one of Ireland’s best studied and in theory most protected species, Ireland’s Hen Harrier population has declined by almost 60% since 2000. A key reason for the collapse in its population is the loss of heather and grassland habitats in our uplands due to forestry, wind energy development and agricultural intensification. In response to the collapse in the species population, the government initiated a Threat Response Plan to save the species in 2013.
The Plan was recently adopted by cabinet following a public consultation earlier this year but has yet to be made public. The Hen Harrier Threat Response Plan will be both a blueprint and a litmus test for how the Government plans and implements the Nature Restoration Law. If there is a sincere will to bring back nature, it should start with this iconic and beloved bird of prey, which is at risk of disappearing from the Irish landscape in the coming years.
In response to the news that a plan has been adopted the Environmental Pillar, Ireland’s environmental NGO advocacy coalition, wrote to Minister Malcolm Noonan reiterating its call for a strong, effective, clear and measurable plan to halt the losses, to restore Hen Harrier populations and to safeguard the iconic bird’s future.
If we get the HHRTP right, it will be an important first step in protecting and restoring other threatened species and habitats and in tackling the huge amounts of Greenhouse Gas emissions that are constantly being released by degraded peatlands.
But there is a reason to be concerned. All previous draft HHTRPs have been insufficiently ambitious and targeted enough to set the species on the way to recovery. Ensuring that the Hen Harrier Plan is fully aligned with the ambition, targets and timelines of the Nature Restoration Law will not only assist the recovery of one of Ireland’s most iconic and threatened species, it will also assist the design of Ireland’s National Restoration Plan.
In particular, the Hen Harrier Threat Response Plan must be fully aligned with the legal obligations within the Nature Restoration Law, which include putting restoration measures in place to progressively restore habitats to good condition up until 2050 when 90% of habitats that are not in good condition are actively being restored.
Ireland is also required to re-establish habitats where they have been lost and improve the connectivity of these restored habitats so that threatened species like Hen Harrier can recover.
Committing an ambitious area of the public lands managed by Coillte and Bord Na Móna for nature restoration will be key to delivering a national Nature Restoration Plan. Restoration of afforested peatlands within Coillte’s land holding, which accounts for ca. 8% of the country, would deliver significant benefits for upland biodiversity including Hen harrier, water quality and climate; simultaneously delivering on the obligations of the HHTRP, the Climate Action Plan and the National Land Use Review.
Reforming the outdated commercial mandates of these public bodies such as Coillte and Bord Na Móna is a rational first step to unlocking the potential of public land for nature, climate and community.
If we are serious about protecting and restoring biodiversity, then putting in place a credible and workable plan to safeguard a threatened iconic species and restore the habitats it depends on is not only essential but is also an important first step in wider nature restoration. This will be a decisive measure of the government’s willingness and vision to restore a species and its habitats. It will also be a test of how devises and implements nature restoration plans in the future. It can’t afford to fail.
Ciaran Brennan is communications officer with Environmental Pillar which is a group of 32 national independent environmental NGOs.
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