Legislators must act urgently to stem biodiversity loss, committee told Investing in nature ‘doesn’t cost the earth, but it gives us and the Earth a chance’
Tue, May 4, 2021, 17:19
Most fields “are practically devoid of life while even the ancient system of hedgerows is vanishing due to neglect and outright destruction”.
Nearly two years since the Dáil declared a climate and a biodiversity emergency, the collapse of Irish biodiversity “is happening – and it’s countrywide”, the OireachtasClimate Committee has been told.
In a damning assessment, Pádraic Fogarty of the Irish Wildlife Trust said legislators needed to act with urgency by pursuing readily available solutions – the committee is examining how a 51 per cent cut in carbon emissions can be achieved by 2030, including the possible contribution from enhanced biodiversity.
Kilkenny TD queries OPW on follow-ups to flood relief work and cleaning of local weirs
Deputy John McGuinness hears local authorities are not precluded from re-applying for funding
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Local TD John McGuinness has asked if local authorities can apply for follow-up funding for to supplement flood relief schemes that have been carried out.
The Kilkenny TD also sought clarity on who is responsible for the cleaning of certain weirs on rivers in Kilkenny City. Deputy McGuinness was speaking at the Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, of which he is chairman. As is sometimes the case with these schemes, when they are finished and done and a number of years have passed, parts of the scheme either weaken or there is another issue, for instance, water comes down even further. Are local authorities precluded from re-applying? asked Deputy McGuinness.
Minister McGrath approves the Glashaboy River (Glanmire) Flood Relief Scheme
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Mr. Michael McGrath T.D., is today (Tuesday), delighted to announce his consent to proceed with the Glashaboy River Flood Relief Scheme at Glanmire / Sallybrook, Cork. The Minister, in pursuance of the powers given to him by Section 7 of the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, has confirmed the said scheme on 18 January 2021, subject to conditions as set out and agreed to by the Commissioners for Public Works in Ireland who are the sponsoring agency for the scheme and which will be implemented by them and Cork City Council.
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Western Marsh Harriers have bred in the Republic of Ireland for the first time in more than a century, the Irish Raptor Study Group has announced.
Two pairs of the species nested this summer in Cos Galway and Westmeath, with two young successfully fledging from each site. The last known breeding record of the harrier in Ireland was in 1917.
Two pairs of Western Marsh Harrier bred succesfully in Ireland this summer (Sean Gray).
Approximately 80% of the original extent of fens – key habitat for Western Marsh Harrier – in the Republic of Ireland has been lost to drainage for peat extraction and reclamation for agricultural land. The cumulative impact of wetland loss due to the Arterial Drainage Act 1945 and the preparatory drainage across bogs in Galway and Roscommon for energy production by Bord na Mona from 1946 limited any real prospect of the species returning in Ireland.