The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has published a comprehensive statutory report on Northern Ireland’s implementation of the Habitats Regulations for protected habitats and species.
Covering the period 2019-2024, the report highlights the urgent need for decisive action to restore nature.
The report has provided greater clarity on what Northern Ireland has achieved in terms of nature conservation and helped identify what the next steps should be to restore the natural environment.
Accompanying this report is the Conservation Status results for each of the most protected habitats and species in Northern Ireland.
The results show that the vast majority of habitats are in ‘Unfavourable-Bad’ conservation status.
In terms of species, approximately a third are in ‘Favourable’ conservation status.
DAERA Minister Andrew Muir commented on the results: “This report makes for sobering reading, highlighting the scale of the challenge facing our habitats and species.
“For those who still don’t recognise the urgency of the biodiversity crisis, this should serve as an important wake-up call.”
Muir said that while the bar is set high to achieve favourable conservation status, “it is clear our habitats and species are suffering from decades of neglect”.
He noted that over the reporting period from 2019-2024, limited progress has been made to “move the dial on biodiversity decline”.
A report on the Status and Trends of Birds also shows mixed results, with some birds in decline and some improving.
“The launch of the draft Nature Recovery Strategy for consultation is a significant step in taking forward the necessary actions to conserve, protect and restore our precious natural environment.” Muir said.
This cycle of reporting highlights that the most significant pressures weighing on the natural environment relate mainly to agricultural-related practices and climate change, according to DAERA.
The Northern Ireland Environmental Improvement Plan provides the framework to enable nature recovery, the department said.
Several new strategies, plans and schemes are also well advanced and “will make a meaningful difference” to conservation efforts in Northern Ireland.
