An Taisce: The National Trust for Ireland

1. An Taisce: The National Trust for Ireland • “The Treasury” • “To protect Irelands heritage for future generations for the benefit of all the people” • Independent, membership-based environmental charity. • Fulfils the role of a National Trust in Ireland

2. An Taisce’s Beginnings • Founded 1946 representing a range of historical, geographical, and naturalist interests • Robert Lloyd Praeger, the founder, had a vision to safeguard Ireland’s treasures for the benefit of current and future generations (now called Sustainable Development!) • Includes built and natural heritage sites

3. An Taisce Environmental Education Unit National Spring Clean Green-Schools Blue Flag for Beaches & Marinas “All-Ireland” Litter League Leaf - Learning about Forests Green Coast Award

4. Natural Environment Advocate the need to protect the natural resources and ecosystems upon which we depend: biodiversity, clean air & water

5. What is Biodiversity? Biological diversity means the variability among living organisms from all sources, including, terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part

6. What is biodiversity? • diversity of individuals within a species (genetic diversity) • diversity of species within an ecosystem or habitat (species diversity) • diversity of ecosystems and habitats (habitat diversity).

7. Why is it important?! • Biodiversity has an Intrinsic Value that is worth protecting regardless of its value to humans • Biodiversity performs a number of ecological services to humankind that have economic, aesthetic or recreational value

8. Why is it important? Biodiversity functions include: • the regulation of climatic processes • breakdown of wastes and recycling of nutrients • filtering of water • buffer against flooding • maintenance of soil fertility • the provision of natural resources

9. Target: Ireland has committed to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s target of ‘Halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010’ • Solutions lie in major changes in policies and practices • Making this happen is in all of our hands

10. Making change happen An Taisce’s role as independent monitor gives us a unique insight in to the key activities affecting our natural environment • Provide assistance and respond to instances of serious and often illegal environmental degradation throughout the country • Monitoring changes and environmental impacts as we tackle negative developments (flood plain development, tree felling, coastal destruction, etc) • instigating changes that are needed to minimise and control damage to our natural heritage

11. Spatial Planning and Natura 2000 • Average only 74% planning applications in Natura 2000 sites (SACs & SPAs) referred to NPW • Response rate as low as 22% for some counties • Only 9% of planning applications within nature conservation sites accompanied by any kind of ecological assessment

12. Spatial Planning and Natura 2000 Recommendations: • Ecological assessments to be carried out • Greater integration of nature conservation needs in to existing planning procedures • Assistance, monitoring, & enforcement by DoE for Local Authority Planning

13. Forestry and Aquaculture • Prescribed body under Forestry and Aquaculture Legislation • Reiterate existing Local, National and European Policy and legislation for the protection of • unique landscapes (Connemara, the Burren, Lough Allen, etc) • water quality, • Endangered / protected habitats & species, • archaeology

14. Aquaculture licensing recent ECJ Ruling • Measures needed to assess impacts of aquaculture on protected species and habitats nature conservation sites • Conditions of good environmental practice needs to be attached to licenses granted

15. Marine Environment • Input to planning process to protect coastal & marine environments • E.g. • Wetlland drainage and infill • Large developments in sand dunes • Inappropriate energy developments

16. Natural Heritage Areas • No legal protection for most NHAs • Damage ongoing • Time-frame for official designation requested

17. Hedgerow Management Strategy Unregulated removal Lack of appropriate management Benefits not fully understood Hedgerow management plan called for to address multiple threats and shared responsibility of many agencies

18. Climate Change The Impacts of Climate Change are issues that need to be considered in ALL plans and programmes

19. Protection and creation of Wetlands • Wetlands buffer against flooding • Regulate water movement and prevent flooding • Increasing importance with Climate Change

20. Pressures on Wetlands • Agricultural infilling supported by Teagasc = state supported loss of small pockets of wetlands everywhere • Local Authority waste licensing with no consideration of ecological impacts • “death by a thousand cuts” Dropwort

21. Wetland Loss • Spoil material for large infrastructural projects not assessed as part of EIA • Dumped – often in marginal ‘unproductive’ wetlands

22. Wetland Loss: Actions needed: National Strategy for Wetlands called for to incorporate • review of waste licensing procedures, • teagasc role, • spoil deposition, • poor planning • to incorporate review of flooding and wetlands to protect from severe flooding (e.g. UK Pitt Review 2007)

23. Climate Change & Biodiversity Loss Stern Review: • 1oC warming – at least 10% of land species could face extinction • 2oC warming – at least 15-40% of land species could face extinction • 3oC warming – at least 20-50% of land species could face extinction IPCC have warned of 3.6 oC rise in temps

24. Ecological Footprint • “The ecological footprint is a measure of the load imposed by a given population on nature. It represents the land area necessary to sustain current levels of resource consumption and waste discharge by that population”, Wackernagel & Rees, 1996. • The Earth’s ecosystems cannot sustain current levels of economic activity and material consumption. • The aim of measuring our ‘footprint is to quantify our use of nature, and compare this with the carrying capacity of our ecosystems, so that we can measure environmental sustainability.

25. Protecting our home, the Earth, begins with understanding our personal and collective impact upon it. • Currently1.8 hectares per person – “a fair earth share”. Our footprint in Ireland is about 3.5 times larger than this “fair earth share”. • We can help turn things around by informing ourselves of environmental issues, and by engaging in personal, local, and global efforts toward a more sustainable relationship between humans and the natural world. • We can all be part of the solution.

26. Reducing our Ecological Footprint In College we can reduce our ecological footprint through drawing up an Environmental Management Strategy for the University • Calculate the college’s ecological footprint • Join up with the College administration to implement / improve waste reduction & recycling systems *Suggest target of becoming first ‘Zero Waste’ Campus! • investigate potential energy conservation measures within the university

27. Reducing our Ecological Footprint • Ireland is responsible for the import of tens of thousands of cubic metres of illegally felled tropical timber each year • University could adopt a ‘Timber Policy’ to ensure timber and wood-based products used come from responsibly-managed forests (Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards)

28. Reducing our Ecological Footprint • Help implement a strategy of reducing chemical use within the college, for example cleaning products used • Assist the University to have a policy of only using recycled paper

29. ‘Biodiversity Action Plan’ for the Campus grounds? • Encourage the planting of native trees & shrubs with student and staff participation • Conserve green spaces throughout the grounds &draw up targets with campus managers for phased reduction of pesticide and weed killer usage • Nature Trail on campus? • woodpiles as habitat, pond creation, bat boxes, etc

30. Join An Taisce! We need your support Thank You!