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 Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD, has today announced his intention to put the National Biodiversity Action Plan on a statutory footing and introduce stronger biodiversity responsibilities for public bodies. 

He made the announcement as part of his Ministerial Statement at the High Level Segment of the UN Biodiversity Conference COP15 in Montreal, Canada. The statement is available in full here. 

A memorandum will be brought to Cabinet shortly seeking to restore the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016 to the Dáil Order Paper. The Bill had completed all stages in the Dáil and the Seanad, and had been returned to the Dáil for consideration of the various amendments made by the Seanad when the Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the 32nd Dáil in January 2020. Further work on drafting the Bill has been undertaken, and it is now ready to recommence its journey through the Houses of the Oireachtas. 

This Bill underpins the National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) in legislation and, once ratified, will require public bodies to submit regular reports to the Minister which will outline the measures they are undertaking to relevant biodiversity plans, programmes or strategies, such as the NBAP. Following consultation, the Minister may direct the relevant bodies requiring them to adopt the actions in their plans. The Biodiversity Forum will continue its important work on the review of the implementation of the National Biodiversity Action Plan and report back to the Minister.

Minister Noonan said: “Putting the National Biodiversity Action Plan on a statutory footing and strengthening the biodiversity responsibilities of public bodies are long-held ambitions of mine. These proposals will significantly enhance Ireland’s ability to implement biodiversity action across the country. This couldn’t come at a more crucial time. As 196 nations come together to agree an ambitious new set of global goals for nature at COP15, we know that what really matters is what happens on the ground. That’s what these new legislative measures are focussing on.”

The proposed Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016 would also give legal effect to the proposed reconfiguration of the Raised Bog Natural Heritage Area network arising from the 2014 Review of Raised Bog Natural Heritage Area Network undertaken by NPWS and provides for a review or reviews of blanket bog Natural Heritage Areas.

“This reconfiguration of the network of nationally protected raised bogs will help achieve national conservation objectives for this important habitat, which can have enormous value for biodiversity, as well as carbon sequestration and storage, water purification and flood mitigation,” concluded Minister Noonan. 

 ENDS