June 4, 2021 7:00 am
Irish Water’s ecology team, l-r: David Fallon; Kate Harrington; Brian Deegan on site at Waterford Wastewater Treatment Plant
Irish Water has said that many rare species of plants, animals and insects have been making a comeback at Irish Water sites around the country as a result of the utility’s work in supporting biodiversity.
To celebrate World Environment Day on Saturday, June 5, Irish Water is launching its
Biodiversity Action Plan which sets out a national programme of measures to protect and enhance Ireland’s biodiversity.
Irish Water says it is committed to playing its part in protecting and enhancing Ireland’s rich variety of flora and fauna at its 1,700 water and wastewater treatment sites nationwide.
Biodiversity experts warn ecosystems are in collapse rte.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rte.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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.
Yet over those ten years its replacement rate was 94pc – and that figure assumes every new tree survived.
Camden says its new trees have a 94pc survival rate – meaning the net loss would be even greater, despite its aim to replant any new trees that die.
More trees are being lost to development projects like HS2, outside of the council s control, with no guarantee they will be replaced.
Trees on Hampstead Road were identified last year as needing to be chopped down to facilitate the HS2 train line.
- Credit: Archant Not getting back what we cut down’
“This is a real worry,” said Sian Berry – a Camden councillor and joint leader of the Green Party nationally.