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Nature Advocacy & Policy – A Look Back on 2024
Published 19th December 2024
By Grace Carr
Overall, 2024 has been a disappointing year for nature conservation. We haven’t seen the ambitious change that is needed to tackle both the biodiversity and climate crisis. New political climates at EU level have brought new challenges and we lost many nature positive politicians at a national level. Aside from this, there have been a few major wins over the year and now more than ever it’s important that we don’t get disheartened and that we continue to advocate for the protection and restoration of nature.
Biodiversity Action Plan
In January the 4th Biodiversity Action Plan was released. The foundation of the plan rests on a ‘whole of Government’ approach which is vital if we are to tackle biodiversity loss. The plan also has statutory footing for the first time which means state bodies can be legally held to account to implement the actions. However, many actions undertaken by other policies and legislation that are the root cause for declining biodiversity are not addressed in the plan and in that way, the plan contradicts itself. Structural changes within Coillte and Bord na Mona were not mentioned in the plan even though a review of the remits of these two bodies was within the programme for Government.
Hen Harrier Threat Response Plan
After a decade of work and a public consultation earlier this year, the new Hen Harrier Threat Response Plan was released in September. Civil society condemned the plan stating that it was vague as well as lacking in detail and ambition. The population of the Hen Harrier has plummeted to only 86-100 breeding pairs in the Republic of Ireland, a decrease in 30% since 2015. One of the main threats to the Hen Harrier is the loss of habitat in our uplands due to forestry, intensive agriculture and wind energy development. While this was acknowledged in the plan, no concrete actions to remedy this were mentioned. Coillte, the largest land owner, could drastically improve the Hen Harriers chances of survival by reducing reforestation and restoring peatlands. These actions would not only assist in the recovery of this iconic species but also ensure Ireland will hit its obligations under other legislation and policies such as the Climate Action Plan, National Land Use Review and The Nature Restoration Law.
The Nature Restoration Law
A major good news story to happen in 2024 was the historic passing of the EU Nature Restoration Law (NRL). This law aims to restore 20% of EU land and sea by 2030 and have all degraded habitats restored by 2050. Farmers in Ireland were concerned over the implications of this law and worried that they would not be compensated for any restoration undertaken on their land. NGO’s in Ireland and across Europe supported farmers’ calls to ensure that there would be sufficient funding ring fenced for restoration. The law went through years of negotiations as well as many misinformation campaigns spearheaded by right leaning groups in the EU and was nearly derailed before a final Council vote. Ireland played a vital role throughout this process and in the final weeks, Minister Ryan penned a letter to the EU Council calling for their support of the law. We’d like to take this opportunity again to thank everyone who took the time to sign the RestoreNature campaign calling on our representatives to enact this crucial piece of legislation. Ireland had the third highest number of signatures per capita in the EU and this show of public support is one of the reasons this law made it through.
EU weakens the environmental protection of the wolf
The EU agreed to weaken the conservation status of the wolf under the Bern convention. Conservationists were dismayed at this development as there is no scientific evidence to support this measure and the latest IUCN assessment shows that 6 out of 9 wolf populations in Europe are vulnerable or near threatened. After wolves nearly went extinct in Europe, reducing their protection now will considerably undermine their fragile recovery. Backtracking on the wolves protected status also goes against EU law such as the Habitats Directive which states that Member States must ensure the restoration and conservation of endangered species. The Commission’s in depth analysis failed to show evidence that a cull of these animals would prevent attacks on species kept as livestock and so downgrading the wolves status will not solve challenges in rural areas and risks setting a dangerous precedent that scientific evidence can be ignored for political gain.
Trawling in Ireland and the EU
In April this year a public consultation was held on the ban of trawling within the 6 nautical mile zone around Ireland’s coast. This ban was first put in place back in 2018 but has been called off over the years due to flaws in the designation process and not flaws in the actual policy. Over 5000 responses were submitted to the consultation and we are now at the end of the year with no information or timeline in place as to when this ban will be reinstated. All the while large trawlers have been allowed to ravage inshore bays, emptying them of vital forage fish which are one of the bases of marine food webs.
Unfortunately the rest of the EU backtracked on ambitions for marine conservation this year as well. Last year the European Commission released its Marine Action Plan and goals within that included a transition to more sustainable low impact fishing methods. The European Parliament rebuked the Commission’s plan early this year, stating that a more balanced approach is needed and that the phasing out of destructive fishing oversimplifies the issue.
Some good news is that the UK is doing better on this issue, banning bottom trawling in 13 MPAs this year and bringing their total marine area protected from bottom trawling to 12%. Court cases have also been launched in France, Spain and Germany against their Governments stating that they are violating national and EU conservation law by allowing bottom trawling to continue in protected areas. Greece announced they will ban bottom trawling in their national parks by 2026 and all MPA’s by 2030 and Sweden went one step further and announced that they plan to ban bottom trawling in their territorial waters.
Europe stalls vital Deforestation Regulation
A proposal by the European Commission to stall the implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation by one year was approved. This law aims to reduce the EU’s contribution to global deforestation by prohibiting products which were produced on deforested land from entering the EU market. The centre right group, European People’s Party, in the European Parliament tried to get the regulation reopened with the aim of weakening the text but this proposal was rejected earlier in December. The delay shows a disregard for the democratic processes which were undertaken last year, as well as the investment some responsible businesses already undertook to comply with the regulations.
LIFE funding for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
This year, Minister Noonan announced a 25 million investment in MPA’s in Ireland. 15 million of this is coming from the EU LIFE project and the Irish Government is matching this with 10 million. Minister Noonan said, “The new Marine Protected Areas LIFE project launched today involves a €25m investment which will be used to research and develop a comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas in line with international best practices.”
Initiatives stemming from LIFE project need to have ambitious and effective legislation to back them up and while this money is a welcome development, we are still waiting on the national Marine Protected Area Bill. Securing the MPA Bill was in the previous Programme for Government and unfortunately this was not fulfilled.
‘Seas off Wexford’ Special Protection Area
Ireland’s largest Special Protection Area (SPA) was designated this year off the South coast of Ireland. This SPA, covering more than 305,000 hectares, was designated to protect the wide range of bird species which can be found there. Unfortunately, there was no stakeholder engagement in the run up to this designation. While this is not a legal requirement under the EU Birds Directive, Fair Seas are calling for better community engagement when it comes to protecting Ireland’s seas. Seeing the Government designate more areas for protection is always welcomed, however, for these areas to be effective there must be transparent and ambitious stakeholder engagement before designation and through the management and enforcement process.
Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara – Ireland’s first national marine park
Ireland’s largest National Park covering over 70,000 acres of land and sea was designated in April this year. It’s encouraging to see the Government using money to acquire land for nature but it will be vitally important that the park is managed effectively and enough resources are dedicated to ensure environmental protection. Killarney National Park is facing ecological threats from overgrazing as well as invasive plant species spreading through the park. One could argue that some of the money that was spent purchasing new land could have been put to better use through allocating more resources to protecting the biodiversity in existing National Parks and protected areas. The Government has released a public consultation on the Park to help shape the development and management of the area and it would be worthwhile for people to get involved and ensure that the protection and restoration of biodiversity is top priority.
EU and National Elections
While the results of the EU parliamentary election were not as bad for the environment as civil society originally feared they would be, we lost many strong Green MEPs and the far right gained some traction. The main pushback on the Green Deal agenda is coming from the far right and the centre right party EPP so this is a worrying development. Things are not as positive as they were in 2019 when the Parliament declared a climate emergency and asked the Commission to adapt all proposals to adhere with the 1.5°C limit for global warming. However, the EU will face global scrutiny if it severely backtracks on its promises to restore biodiversity and mitigate against climate change. Unfortunately, we saw a loss of the ‘progressive’ majority (who in general supported environmental legislation) which we had in the last Parliament. EPP was the biggest winner out of all the groups and remains the group with the most seats in the Parliament. Far right groups gained more seats, but not as many as was initially predicted while the far right group Identity and Democracy ended up splitting into two separate groups, Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations. There was a rise in the numbers of non-attached members and these MEPs will have a range of priorities and beliefs, therefore it will be important to analyse each one of these to identify allies for the environment.
Ursula Von Der Leyen was re-elected as the leader of the European Commission and released her Political Guidelines for the coming mandate in July. In this statement, the Green Deal is mentioned early on, ‘A stronger Europe that delivers social fairness and supports people. A stronger Europe that implements what it agrees in a fair way. And that sticks to the targets of the European Green Deal with pragmatism, technology-neutrality and innovation.’ This was a relief for many environmental organisations to see, however the first priority within the guidelines remains sustainable prosperity and competitiveness.
Budget 2025 was announced before the national election with some welcome funds for upgrading water infrastructure as well as the electricity grid. However, some key opportunities were missed to create a sustainable taxation system, such as a plan to remove harmful subsidies. Money must also be ring fenced within the Climate and Nature fund to ensure nature restoration is adequately funded.
In the national General election, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael received the most votes and this election saw the loss of every Green TD bar one. It is yet to be seen who will join Fianna Fail and Fine Gael in a coalition Government and whether there will be any champions for nature in the next Government. Ahead of this, plenty of advocacy is taking place behind the scenes to ensure important environmental issues are included within the next Programme for Government.
Ireland’s first Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP)
Ireland’s first Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP) for Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) went through public consultation and was passed through both houses of the Oireachtas in October. An environmental constraints analysis was undertaken and these issues were considered ahead of technical constraints which was a good step in the right direction. However, some areas overlap with spawning grounds of certain fish species and the impacts of this will have to be closely monitored and any negative impacts mitigated promptly.
While we think that the DMAP process was, in general, better than other plans, unfortunately this process hasn’t been repeated in other parts of the country. Several ORE planning applications have been going through on the east coast of Ireland which have failed to go through similar environmental constraints analysis. This is extremely worrying as placing ORE in areas that will damage biodiversity will have a negative impact on the climate crisis.
Annual Climate Change Advisory Council Report
The Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) published the 5th part of their Annual Review of agriculture and land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF). The report states that sectors will need to implement the measures within the Climate Action Plan if they are to reach their emission reduction targets by 2030. The review made several recommendations including calling for an ambitious National Restoration Plan (through the Nature Restoration Law), funding for biodiversity, incentives for farmers, nature based solutions and an integrated land use strategy which takes into account climate, biodiversity and water targets.
Convention on Biological Diversity COP16
The 16th Conference of Parties (COP16 ) took place in Colombia this year. The Irish Wildlife Trust along with the Irish Environmental Network attended and it was promising to see a large presence of Irish civil servants and Ministers in attendance. The aim of this COP was to put in place concrete actions to fund the ambitious targets agreed upon at the last Biodiversity COP (reaching 30% protected areas on land and sea by 2030). Unfortunately, countries failed to agree on financing and monitoring mechanisms for these actions. Thankfully countries are due to resume crucial talks in Rome in February 2025. Some positive results to come from COP16 included an agreement for a permanent body to be created for Indigenous peoples to ensure their effective consultation during UN negotiations. Another win was that companies that gain financial benefit from using natural resources (in products like drugs and cosmetics) must pay a percentage of their revenue to countries to protect nature.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) State of the Environment Report 2024
The 8th State of the Environment Report was released this year by the EPA and a chapter dedicated to nature highlights the alarming rate of biodiversity decline. 85% of protected habitats in Ireland are considered to be in unfavourable status and more than 50% of native plant species are declining. The main drivers of the decline are human activities.
The report looked at several topics including air, environmental noise, climate change, soil, the marine environment and agriculture. For agriculture, it states that there are many programmes in place and positive actions are being undertaken at a farm scale but there is no clear evidence that the actions being taken will achieve the level of environmental outcomes that are needed. Our food systems are currently not meeting our sustainability targets and a shared vision (including clear actions and adequate supports to achieve them) for 2050 for land use is urgently required.
In the marine chapter, it states that there have been many changes in marine policy resulting in a need for greater coherence and coordination to avoid further damage to the marine environment. Some key pressures such as fishing at unsustainable levels and coastal nutrient enrichment need to be addressed to ensure the health and productivity of the marine environment. The lack of a vital national marine protected area bill was also highlighted, stating that this is an essential component of the marine spatial planning approach.
Marine Protected Areas
Fair Seas and partners continued working hard all year to get the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Bill over the line. Unfortunately, despite the Bill being promised in early 2023, this still hasn’t happened.
Fair Seas have worked closely with a number of stakeholders throughout the year, including the wind industry and have held events across the country highlighting the views of different groups. Public support has been strong, with nearly 2000 people sending emails to the relevant Minister’s using the Fair Seas contact your minister tool and over 70,000 people signing the petition asking the Government to enact the legislation without delay. We have held events in the Dáil as well as a rally for Ireland’s seas at the front gates of Leinster house.The Irish Wildlife Trust and other partners of Fair Seas will continue working on this vital piece of legislation in 2025 so keep an eye out for news in our newsletter and social media.
We’d like to thank all our members and followers for their support in 2024. While the year had many ups and downs, we will continue working hard as a community to ensure our natural environment gets the protection it deserves.