The Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage/ National Parks & Wildlife Service has launched a public consultation on Ireland’s 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) which will set the national biodiversity agenda for the period 2023-2027 and "aims to deliver the transformative changes required to the ways in which we value and protect nature".
Stakeholder engagement has been central to development of this draft of Ireland’s 4th National
Biodiversity Action Plan, with work on the draft ongoing since late 2021, facilitated by KPMG Ireland and Natural Capital Ireland. The views of people from all sectors and all walks of life are being sought in order to strengthen the actions proposed and help to ensure a ‘whole of Government’, ‘whole of society’ approach to the biodiversity crisis. Support and buy-in from key stakeholders and the general public is crucial to the successful implementation of the Plan.
The engagement process for the Draft NBAP has been designed to incorporate three
distinct stages, each of which targets a different stakeholder group. To date, two of the three stages
have been completed including a series of meetings with individual stakeholder groups, feedback from attendee discussion and commentary at the National Biodiversity Conference in June, and recommendations from the ongoing meetings and submissions of the Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity Loss. The third stage of stakeholder engagement consists of this public consultation.
The 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan (#Biodplan22) will:
Ensure implementation of the NPWS Strategic Action Plan. This will expand the resources required for enforcement, implementation of conservation measures, ecological assessment and scientific advice
Commence work to fulfil the ambition of the EU Biodiversity Strategy including its restoration targets
Designate Marine Protected Areas
Increase funding to local and community projects
Continue to mainstream biodiversity across government and the private sector
Strengthen policy coherence
Focus efforts to prioritise biodiversity research and strengthen collaborative monitoring
programmes
Work towards an improved governance structure to oversee and track the implementation
of the plan
How to get involved
Interested parties (e.g. individual persons, groups or organisations) can provide comments and make submissions on the 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan. There are three ways to get involved - online survey, by emailing comments to NBAPConsultation@housing.gov.ie or by post. You can access the survey, read the draft and get full details on the official #NBAP consultation website HERE.
The closing date for submissions is November 8, 2022.