Price to be paid for lax attitude to nature sites

WE could yet pay a high price for failing to protect nature sites.

Ireland has not fully met a 1995 deadline to complete a list of nature sites with a view to protecting its most endangered natural habitats and species, as part of the EU-wide Natura 2000 network.

The EU Commission is asking the government to speed up protection of such sites and is seeking full compliance with two judgments of the European Court of Justice.

Remember the way many Irish mountains and uplands went bare in the 1980’s because of over-grazing by sheep? EU payments to farmers were a key incentive for this growth. But, ironically, the EU is now saying Ireland is not doing enough to recover vegetation that was extensively damaged by over-stocking.

Failure to satisfy the court judgments will expose us to the risk of substantial fines.

Meanwhile, the commission has closed a case against Ireland concerning the protection of shellfish waters from pollution after the necessary safeguards were put in place.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said correct implementation of EU environmental legislation was crucial to meet the EU’s commitment to halting biodiversity loss in Europe by 2010.

’I am hopeful that the Irish authorities will now step up efforts to finalise their network of important nature sites and show that the problem of sheep over-grazing has been fully addressed,’ he added.

The EU is also chastising six other countries — Spain, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia — for failing to protect fragile sites and implement environmental laws.

Germany, however, has been let off the hook. The commission had started legal action against it for not listing enough nature sites for the Natura 2000 network, but the case has now been closed after the German authorities added more sites.

In September 2001, there was a judgment against Ireland by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for not respecting a June, 1995 deadline under the EU Habitats Directive to formally propose to the commission a complete list of sites for the protection of its most endangered habitats and animal and plant species.

The listed sites were to be Ireland’s contribution to an ambitious European network of protected nature sites known as Natura 2000.

All this fits within global efforts to ensure the Earth does not lose the richness of nature and species that it possesses. Ireland made significant advances up to 2004, but progress has since stalled, according to an EU Commission spokesperson.

Extra, or extended, sites for wet heaths, bog woodland, salmon, freshwater crayfish, twaite shad and the Killarney fern have not been formally presented.

The commission also has serious concerns about a roll-back of areas already presented following the redrawing of boundaries.

For example, it appears that in response to representations at national level, the Irish Government has agreed to cut out certain orchid-rich grassland from the protection of the All Saints Bog site in the Midlands.

If Ireland does not comply with the judgment, the commission may decide to ask the Court of Justice to impose a substantial fine.

Regarding sheep over-grazing in protected areas, the court found against Ireland on two accounts, in June 2002.

First finding arose from the failure to protect the 25,000-hectare Owenduff-Nephin Beg complex, a special protection area in Co Mayo, from damage caused by overstocking.

The second was for not protecting the wider habitats of the red grouse from similar damage.

The breaches arose under the Wild Birds Directive and the EU Habitats Directive, which lay down safeguards for special protection areas.

Red grouse need heather to feed on and nest in: heather loss is one of the chief effects of overgrazing, experts report. Other effects include loss of soil, sometimes down to rock and silting and contamination of rivers.

Ireland took steps to reduce sheep numbers on the hills after the court judgment. However, studies carried out on the Owenduff-Nephin Beg complex, in 2004/2005, showed poor levels of vegetation recovery, indicating that further steps were necessary.

The commission expressed concern that, four years after the judgment, Ireland has still not carried out the necessary scientific studies to check the success, or otherwise, of sheep reduction measures across several hundred thousand hectares of uplands elsewhere.