Farmers have 'serious concerns' about biodiversity report

Aoibhinn Ní Shuilleabhean, chairwoman of the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, at the launch of the Assembly's report. Picture: PA

The country’s main farming body has expressed “serious concerns” about the report of the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, suggesting some of its recommendations “could actually be counter-productive to the overall objective of protecting biodiversity”.

The landmark report, published yesterday and welcomed by environmental groups, contains 159 recommendations, including a referendum to write environmental protection into the Irish Constitution, a Government minister with a biodiversity brief, and heavier penalties for environmental pollution.

Stark figures on the scale of Ireland’s biodiversity loss and the consistent failure of the State to implement and enforce laws protecting the environment have left us at a “critical juncture” for protecting Ireland’s biodiversity, according to the report.

“The Assembly believes the State has comprehensively failed to adequately fund, implement, and enforce existing national legislation, national policies, EU biodiversity-related laws and directives related to biodiversity,” it states. “This must change.” 

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Ninety-nine randomly selected citizens heard from 80 experts throughout the year-long Citizens’ Assembly process, before voting for 159 recommendations published in the report.

Recommendations are broken down into 73 “high-level” recommendations and 86 recommendations for specific sectors including agriculture, forestry, freshwater, marine environment, peatlands, and more.

Several of the high-level recommendations involve sweeping reform, including:

• A referendum to enshrine environmental protections and human rights to a safe environment in the Constitution;
• A Government ministerial brief for biodiversity;
• Moving the Government’s economic strategy ‘Beyond GDP’ to include the National Well-being Framework, including environmental considerations, in economic decision-making;
• Drafting and implementing a new statutory National Biodiversity Plan to work alongside the National Climate Plan;
• At least one biodiversity officer for each local authority in the country;
• An environmental court operating at district and circuit court level;
• Stronger penalties for polluters, including higher fines and criminal sanctions where appropriate.

Specific recommendations on agriculture made by the Citizens’ Assembly include further subsidising organic farming and locally-grown produce, a levy on agricultural exports (the proceeds of which would be ringfenced for biodiversity), and encouraging plant-based diets.

Irish Farmers’ Association president Tim Cullinan. Picture: Finbarr O’Rourke

IFA president Tim Cullinan said the idea of levying agricultural exports was “outlandish”. 

“These proposed levies will be just another tax on farmers and will do nothing to improve biodiversity,” he claimed. 

He said the IFA was “very surprised” at the recommendation on encouraging plant-based diets. This recommendation was voted in by 60% of the assembly, while many other recommendations received upwards of 90% of positive votes.

However, Dr Elaine McGoff, natural environment officer with An Taisce, said the report echoed what environmental groups "have been saying for years".

“It might seem stark and it might seem ambitious, but when we look at the data and at what’s coming down the track and how much trouble we’re in, these are the sort of steps we need to take," she said.

Yes it is breathtaking, yes it is terrifying, but it’s not as terrifying as what happens if we do nothing.” 

The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) warned that the Government “must move rapidly to implement its recommendations”. 

“The actions needed to reverse biodiversity loss have been widely articulated and supported by evidence for at least three decades,” said IWT spokesman Pádraic Fogarty. 

The missing ingredient has been the Government’s determined avoidance of taking the necessary remedial actions.” 

The Taoiseach has said the next step for the report is for it to be presented to an Oireachtas committee for consideration.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD speaking to the media. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that he had met with Assembly chairwoman Aobhin Ní Shuillibhean and she had "really impressed on him" that the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis are linked, but they're also "very different".

"The biodiversity crisis is something we can kind of see and feel something very local," he said.

"It's not a case of it being a global problem. It's very much a local problem as well as our streams, our rivers, our forests, our flora and fauna. 

"Actually, the situation is very serious, but it's also something that we can get turned around quite quickly. And we know that nature can grow back if we first of all stop doing things that are harming us, and then secondly start doing the right thing.

"So it's very different to the climate crisis, which is global and almost overwhelming sometimes.

 The biodiversity crisis is very real, very local, and one that I think we can turn around and make progress on very quickly.

"I know one thing that really clued me into the whole biodiversity loss crisis was one of Richard Attenborough's documentaries that pointed out that 97% of all the life on the planet is us and the food we eat, which is extraordinary.

"We've left 3% for wildlife, and these systems are going to collapse if we don't turn them around. And I'm very much determined that we should be the generation of politicians that turned the corner on biodiversity."