Special Report: Conservation and preservation ... Are we doing enough?

Conservation measures to protect our environment and its wildlife have in many cases proven to be ineffective, with species still declining, writes Gordon Deegan

THE spend by the State on protecting snails, frogs, corncrakes, and freshwater pearl mussels can sometimes raise eyebrows among a disbelieving public.

Against the background of almost weekly stories of trauma for patients waiting on trollies in hospital A&E departments and the unending homeless crisis, a combined spend of almost €1m in 2015 on only two protected birds, the hen harrier and the corncrake, may appear hard to justify.