Current pressures on nature in Northern Ireland are unsustainable and urgent action is needed to protect and improve the environment for this and future generations, says the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).
In a new report, the OEP has systematically assessed the drivers and pressures impacting upon nature, and identified the relevant challenges associated with particular sectors of the economy.
Dame Glenys Stacey, Chair of the OEP said: “Nature sustains the Northern Ireland economy and the health, wealth and wellbeing of its people. Protecting the natural environment is therefore fundamental to achieving economic and social goals.
“More and more has been demanded of the environment over many years, and it is now clear that more pressure has been applied than the land and water can bear.
“Government must act urgently and decisively, not only to reverse a lifetime of environmental degradation and to restore the diversity of Northern Ireland’s habitats and species, but also to ensure a sustainable agri-food industry and wider economy.
“Failure to do so risks a heavy toll on the prosperity and well-being of future generations.”
The report finds that the two principal pressures causing biodiversity loss are land use change and pollution, closely linked to agricultural intensification. Excess nutrients, in the form of fertilisers and animal wastes from farming and from sewage, are the main forms of pollution having an impact. The report finds that agri-industry in its current form is making unsustainable demands on the environment.
Alongside agriculture and sewage management, other issues contributing to on-going biodiversity loss include waste management, resource extraction, urban development and chemical pollution.
The Office for Environmental Protection identifies three areas where action should be prioritised:
- Reduce pollution by nutrients from farming and sewage. Northern Ireland has an unsustainable nutrient surplus
- Change land use to restore habitats. Most semi-natural habitats have been destroyed or become fragmented by land use change. A focus on restoration and nature-positive land use change is essential
- Reduce material and ecological footprints. The extraction, consumption and disposal of raw materials are causing widespread damage to biodiversity within Northern Ireland and beyond.
Malcolm Beatty, the OEP’s Northern Ireland non-Executive Board Member, said: “To know how best to act, government must first know well enough how things are, and why they are as they are. We hope this assessment provides government with the comprehensive and timely assessment it needs to plan for the future.
“It is such a crucial time, with Northern Ireland’s first Environmental Improvement Plan now in place and other important steps due to follow soon, including the much-needed Nutrients Action Programme, River Basin Management Plans, Nature Recovery Strategy, and Farming with Nature scheme.
“There is an opportunity now for Government to lead in renewing the relationship with the natural environment here. It is an opportunity too important to squander.”
Notes:
On this page you can also access supporting documents that have informed the development of our report and our findings. These include reports that the OEP has commissioned from external contractors. The views expressed in the reports are those of the contractors and not of the OEP.
We also publish here a summary of responses to our call for evidence on the drivers and pressures affecting terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity in Northern Ireland.
