IRELAND supports efforts to reach a global agreement to protect 30 percent of the Earth by 2030, but the pledge does not apply domestically.
Eritage Minister Malcolm Noonan said it would be a major challenge for Ireland to adopt domestically the ’30×30′ target, which it is hoped will be enshrined in a new Global Biodiversity Framework.
“Most of our land is privately owned or farmed,” he said, emphasizing that this sets Ireland apart from most of mainland Europe. “It’s a very different dynamic.”
Following a major announcement this week, the country’s marine protected area has increased to 8.3 percent and plans to expand to 30 percent by 2030.
But only 14 percent of the land is protected as Special Areas of Conservation, Specially Protected Areas, or other official designations.
However, Mr Noonan said he would explore all options to bring more land under some form of protection, even if not through existing official designations.
“Whatever we do on the land, it has to be done in partnership with landowners, with farmers,” he said.
“We have had discussions with farmers’ organizations and we will continue that positive dialogue. It has been well received, the fact that we have reached out and are proactive about it.”
Mr. Noonan spoke ahead of his formal address to the Cop15 Global Biodiversity Summit in Montreal, where discussions on the proposed framework are underway.
The summit is being held against the backdrop of serious scientific warnings that one million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction within decades as habitats deteriorate and disappear.
In his speech, Mr. Noonan stressed the urgency of action to protect what remains and to start the process of restoring the health of nature.
Nature is in danger,” he said. “The complex web of life on which we all depend, the product of 3.6 billion years of evolution, is deteriorating before our very eyes, and we don’t have a decade left.”
He said Ireland was determined to support negotiations on an ambitious global biodiversity framework, but was not waiting for the outcome of the talks before taking action.
He highlighted recent measures taken at home, including nearly doubling funding for the National Parks and Wildlife Service, wetland restoration programs, high nature value agriculture programs, the Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, and the new National Biodiversity Plan currently under is drawn up.
He confirmed he would move to legislate the plan next year.
This would require government agencies to report regularly on the work they are doing to protect or improve biodiversity.
“Like many countries, we have a long way to go, but through action, passion and determination on the part of government and society, we will get there,” he said.
The summit, which is scheduled to end next Monday, is at a critical juncture where funding for biodiversity protection is a bottleneck.
On Tuesday evening, many poorer countries left talks out of frustration over the failure of rich countries to agree on increasing funding for the international Global Environment Facility fund.
They later resumed discussions, but Mr Noonan said they were right to take a stand.
“They are absolutely right to stick to what they demand because it is their natural resources that are consumed as fuel in Western countries,” he said.
The Irish Wildlife Trust said Ireland should take the opportunity of the summit to commit to protecting 30 percent of its land domestically.
Campaign official, Pádraig Fogarty, said Ireland spoke of supporting ambitious action as it opted out of the 30×30 target.
“This is not a high ambition in practice,” he said.