The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has found possible failures to comply with environmental law by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in relation to the protection of wild birds.
In March 2024, the OEP launched an investigation into possible failures to implement recommendations by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), on the classification of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) on land, and in respect of their general duties to protect and maintain wild bird populations.
Following the investigation, the OEP concluded that there may have been failures to comply with environmental law, and issued DAERA with an information notice setting out the details of its findings.
According to the OEP, DAERA has two months to respond to the notice. The OEP said it will consider the response before deciding the next steps.
The chief regulatory officer for the OEP, Helen Venn said: “Government has a legal obligation to maintain populations of wild birds and ensure they have enough suitable habitat.
“One way in which they do this is through SPAs, which are legally designated sites that protect rare and threatened wild birds, such as whooper swans, puffins, and light-bellied brent geese.
“They are internationally important areas for breeding, overwintering, and migrating birds, and have also been shown to deliver positive outcomes for wider biodiversity,” Venn explained.
Wild birds
According to the OEP, populations of wild birds continue to decline across Northern Ireland, with recent studies placing a quarter of birds found on the island of Ireland on the birds of conservation concern red list.
Venn said: “There has been constructive engagement during our investigation with DAERA and note that some positive steps are being taken in these areas.
“However, our investigation has found what we believe to be possible failures to comply with environmental law by DAERA relating to the protection of wild birds.”
“We have therefore decided to move to the next step in our enforcement process, which is to issue an information notice setting out our findings,” Venn added.
