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Press Release
20th May 2020
Irish Wildlife Trust welcomes EU Biodiversity Strategy but we must move quickly to implementation.
The IWT welcomes the publication of the EU’s 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and Farm to Fork plan which set ambitious targets for the restoration of nature across the continent. If implemented it would see a transformation of farming, fishing and land use in general.
Common Blue Butterfly, Photo Credit: Mike Brown (www.mikebrownphotography.com)
The goal of protecting 30% of land and sea is especially welcome and would allow for large-scale rewilding of land as well as high nature value farming programmes. In Ireland it would mean more than doubling the area of protected land and an 10-fold increase in marine protected areas.
IWT campaign officer Pádraic Fogarty says “these plans go a long way in setting the standard for where we need to be in 10 years. However, too often in the past we’ve seen these bold initiatives come to nothing as they are effectively ignored by member states. This time must be different“.
The IWT is urging all political parties to get behind these plans as they will need local as well as national support. Restoring nature should be a source of pride and can be an enormously positive legacy to leave for the next generation.