Environment
Wake Up Call from Minister
Urgent need for new Biodiversity strategy
The following headline appeared in the Belfast Telegraph September 7th 2002 (an article by David Gordon)
A Government report has highlighted an “alarming” threat
to Ulster's natural environment, including vital habitats for
animals and plants.
The Northern Ireland Biodiversity Strategy document is due
to be officially launched tomorrow by Environment Minister
Dermot Nesbitt.
Speaking ahead of the event. Mr Nesbitt today issued a
wake up call on the decline in the province's natural resources
Biodiversity is a vital theme for environmentalists. The DoE
strategy document defines it as the “variety of all living things”, including the 20,000 species of life found across the
province.
The report says the environmental challenge facing Northern
Ireland “cannot be overstated” and biodiversity is being lost
“at an alarming rate”.
Examples listed in the strategy include:
1. A decline in plant and animal habitats due to more intensive farming methods.
2. 90% of lowland raised bogs lost or altered due to peat
extraction, forestry and drainage.
3. Freshwaters suffering from nutrient enrichment, with causes including the increasing use of inorganic fertilizers and slurry.
4. Few hay meadows surviving in the promise.
Mr. Nesbitt told the Belfast Telegraph: “We have a
responsibility to preserve and protect the environment, from
red squirrels to curlews, to boglands and the habitats of hares.”
“We have lost habitats and species have become rare. There is so much that we take for granted or never think about at all”
“We have to give a lead on biodiversity. we have set up a
biodiversity section within the DoE. New staff have been
recruited.”
“An education resources pack has been developed for schools. We are also increasing grant aid from 50% to 75%
for action plans to protect habitats.”
The Stormont Executive pledged in its first Programme for
Government to publish a Northern Ireland Biodiversity Strategy. It will be launched by the Minister tomorrow at the Green Living Fair at Castle Espie wildfowl and wetland centre near Comber.
Key policies outlined in the document include the
reconstitution of the Northern Ireland Biodiversity Group, the
body which advised the DoE on the new strategy. It will
co-ordinate and oversee the implementation of the blueprint.