‘National Parks and Wildlife Service must be beefed-up’

Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) said the NPWS has been defunded under previous governments

Penny Bartlett, a Conservation Ranger with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, on duty at Mullaghmore mountain in Co Clare. Picture: Press 22

Developing a strong and independent nature-conservation agency is the most important element in addressing the biodiversity emergency.

That’s the view of the Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT), which has welcomed an announcement that a strategic review of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is underway.

IWT campaign officer, Pádraic Fogarty, said the NPWS has been defunded under previous governments and cannot meet even minimum legal requirements.

“This review is a fantastic opportunity to reimagine the State’s role in restoring nature, not just complying with the law, but bringing nature back to our lives, and our landscapes, on a much wider scale,” Mr Fogarty said.

The IWT said it looks forward to the stakeholder-engagement element of the review and hopes that this will be open to the public, for them to also express their views.

“Any new agency should have a central role in education and engagement with local communities, promoting local as well as national biodiversity targets and providing scientific advice to all government departments in delivering their responsibilities in this area,” Mr Fogarty said.

The strategic review of the NPWS is headed by Dr Jane Stout, professor in botany at the School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin (chairperson), and former Environment Protection Agency director, Dr Micheál Ó Cinnéide (deputy chair).

It is expected that the review will be completed this summer, with the publication of a report and key recommendations to follow.

Terms of reference will be published in advance of a stakeholder-engagement process, which will commence in the coming weeks.

The review was a key commitment in the Programme for Government and its recommendations will inform the future development of the NPWS.

Malcolm Noonan, the heritage and electoral reform state minister, said that ensuring the NPWS is resourced, staffed, and equipped to lead Ireland’s response to the biodiversity emergency is one of his priorities.

“In 2020, NPWS’s funding was 70% down on what it had been before the financial crisis in 2008,” Mr Noonan said. “I increased its funding by 80% in Budget 2021, but there is much more to do.

“The scale of this Government’s ambition for nature is unprecedented, and the recommendations of this strategic review will be critical in enabling us to meet that ambition,” Mr Noonan said.