{"id":458866,"date":"2025-09-28T22:07:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T22:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/458866\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T22:07:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T22:07:21","slug":"irelands-natural-environment-in-very-poor-condition-eu-analysis-finds-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/458866\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s natural environment in \u2018very poor\u2019 condition, EU analysis finds \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nature<\/a> in Ireland is in a \u201cvery poor\u201d state with the country\u2019s economic growth achieved at the expense of the environment<\/a>, EU analysis has found. <\/p>\n

The State of Europe\u2019s Environment report also criticised the poor quality of Ireland\u2019s natural waters, the country\u2019s growing waste volumes and its heavy reliance on fossil fuels. <\/p>\n

It said there is excessive car dependency despite some increase in public transport use, and agriculture and food production are too intensive and environmentally unsustainable in their current form. <\/p>\n

The report is compiled every five years by the European Environment Agency (EEA), which monitors conditions in the 27 EU member states and 11 neighbouring countries. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Some big polluter is breathing sigh of relief\u2019: Questions remain over Blackwater fish killOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Its findings in relation to Ireland undermine the country\u2019s projected green image. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe assessment of nature is very poor, with 85 per cent of Ireland\u2019s protected habitats and almost one third of protected species of flora and fauna having an unfavourable status,\u201d it says. <\/p>\n

\u201cOver half of native plant species are in decline and more than 50 bird species are of high conservation concern. <\/p>\n

\u201cSignificant measures are needed to address declines.\u201d <\/p>\n

Water quality is also assessed as \u201cpoor\u201d with no improvement in the condition of rivers or lakes over the last five years.<\/p>\n

Agriculture, forestry, urban sewage discharges and artificial interference with water flows and riverbanks are the main pressures it cites. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Algal bloom on Lough Derg prompts call for multi-agency investigationOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cCompliance with EU obligations remains a challenge,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n

The Government published a Water Action Plan last year, will publish a Nature Restoration Plan next year and has a Land Use Review under way but the EEA report shows there is no time to waste in implementing rescue measures. <\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s wasteful habits are highlighted, as is the failure to create a \u2018circular economy\u2019 where goods and services are routinely shared, repaired, reused or recycled. <\/p>\n

\u201cIreland\u2019s economy remains substantively linear, marked by material overconsumption, increasing waste volumes and reliance on waste exports,\u201d the report said. <\/p>\n

The EEA acknowledges the country has undergone huge growth in a relatively short period, the population rising by two million in 50 years. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, the nation and economy have prospered. However, this success has been heavily dependent on environmental resources.\u201d <\/p>\n

In the last progress report, Ireland ranked bottom among EU member states for expenditure on environmental protection. <\/p>\n

The EU average was 2.2 per cent of GDP but Ireland\u2019s expenditure was just 0.9 per cent. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Rules to protect Ireland\u2019s fragile rivers are being repeatedly breachedOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cScaled-up investment in water, energy, transport and waste management infrastructure to address the significant environmental challenges is essential to meet the demands of Ireland\u2019s growing economy and population,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n

On agriculture, the report says Ireland\u2019s food systems \u201cneed urgent transformational change\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many plans and programmes in place, with positive actions being implemented at farm scale, but there is no clear evidence that the current measures will collectively achieve the scale of environmental outcomes needed. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe intensification of livestock farming in response to ambitious growth policies has contributed to increased environmental degradation.\u201d <\/p>\n

Progress in renewable electricity, public transport, air quality and greenhouse gas emission reductions are noted. <\/p>\n

However, the report says: \u201cIreland needs to speed up the transportation of its energy, transport, food and industrial systems to become more sustainable.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Thousands of dolphins may be dying off west coast of Ireland every year, \u2018and nothing is being done\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The EEA\u2019s findings, published on Monday, show the problems extend across Europe where more than 60 per cent of species and just under 80 per cent of habitats are in poor or bad condition. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe overall state of Europe\u2019s environment is not good, especially its nature which continues to face degradation, overexploitation and biodiversity loss,\u201d it said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe outlook for most environmental trends is concerning and poses major risks to Europe\u2019s economic prosperity, security and quality of life.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nature in Ireland is in a \u201cvery poor\u201d state with the country\u2019s economic growth achieved at the expense…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187,729],"class_list":{"0":"post-458866","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european","11":"tag-nature"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115284203568011276","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}