The European Commission has approved funding for 202 new projects under the LIFE+ programme, the European Union’s environment fund. Among the projects approved is a Eur2.2 million project by Clare County Council for tourism on the Burren. Half the money will come from the European Commission and the other half is national co-funding.

The Burren project will build on previous work to protect the rich heritage of the Burren while supporting local employment and economic activity. The project aims to strengthen the integration of tourism and natural heritage, reconciling tourism development with conservation of biodiversity and cultural heritage in the Burren.

The Burren is internationally renowned for its karst limestone and a rich and diverse selection of flora and fauna, archaeological monuments and traditional cultural practices.

The other projects across Europe cover actions in the fields of nature conservation, environmental policy, climate change and information and communication on environmental issues. They represent a total investment of some €516.5 million, of which the EU will provide €268.4 million.

The Commission received 1 078 applications from the 27 EU Member States in response to its latest call for proposals, which closed in July 2011. Of these, 202 were selected for co-funding through the programme’s three components: LIFE+ Nature and Biodiversity, LIFE+ Environment Policy and Governance and LIFE+ Information and Communication.

Finding ways to value ecosystem health economically and to engage the world’s indigenous peoples in the process is key to saving biological diversity, a Worldwatch author suggests in the Institute’s most recent book. Such efforts are all the more urgent because the addition of more plant and animal species to lists of those threatened or endangered shows no signs of slowing down, despite rising public awareness of the importance of biodiversity.

The Worldwatch Institute is raising awareness of biodiversity losses worldwide and what individuals and institutions can do to confront these trends. The current rate of species extinction is up to 1,000 times above the Earth’s normal extinction rate, a level of loss that has not occurred since the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The Worldwatch Institute, in its recently released report State of the World 2012: Moving Toward Sustainable Prosperity, highlights the threats to biodiversity and methods for combating the exploitation and degradation of ecosystems and their services.

From 1980 to 2008, an average of 52 species per year moved one category closer to extinction on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Endangered Species – a rate that shows no signs of slowing. Although mass extinctions have occurred on Earth throughout geologic time, the current loss of biodiversity is the first to be caused overwhelmingly by a single species: humans. The five principal pressures causing biodiversity loss are habitat change, over exploitation, pollution, invasive alien species, and climate change, all of which are almost exclusively human driven.

“The current model of consumer societies is destroying the planet and its resources,” says Bo Normander, director of Worldwatch Institute Europe and a contributing author to State of the World 2012. “This must change in order for the planet to sustain future generations.”

At the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, leaders made a commitment to preserve biological resources by signing the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), but there remains a fundamental lack of political will to act on biodiversity threats. In 2002, the CBD promised “a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss” by 2010, yet within those eight years, most countries failed to meet their targets.

To combat the loss of Earth’s natural capital, scientists strive to assign concrete values to natural resources with the hope that an economic appreciation of ecosystem services may facilitate improved planning and management of Earth’s systems. Yet progress on developing accurate, straightforward, and widely accepted measures for assessing ecosystem values remains slow.

“Accurate valuation of ecosystem services is vital to create greater accountability and awareness of the ecological impact of our actions,” comments Erik Assadourian, Worldwatch senior fellow and State of the World 2012 project co-director. “By understanding ecosystem services in monetary or physical terms, leaders can assess and improve the sustainability of their policies.”

Current international practices discount future generations by effectively valuing ecosystem services at zero. Such undervaluing is often a result of society’s ignorance of the full benefits that humans derive from an intact ecosystem. Thus, individuals make decisions based on the immediate financial gains of logging a forest, for example, instead of considering the “invisible” benefits of the forest, such as carbon sequestration, flood protection, and habitat for pollinators.

To truly protect biodiversity and value ecosystem services effectively, multinational cooperation is required. Worldwatch’s State of the World 2012, released in April 2012, focuses on steps in biodiversity protection and other areas that can be taken at Rio+20, the 20-year follow-up to the historic 1992 Rio Earth Summit, to make progress toward sustainable development.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published its first biannual update of its Biodiversity Action Plan. This Biodiversity Action Plan sets out the EPA’s progress in the implementation of its role in protecting biodiversity and covers a range of activities in the following areas:

* Monitoring;

* Research;

* Assessment and Reporting;

* Environmental Regulation;

* Climate Change;

* Communications.

The plan demonstrates the on-going commitment of the EPA to protect Ireland’s biodiversity and underlines the substantial support role undertaken by the EPA in this area.

Micheal O Cinneide, EPA director, Office of Environmental Assessment, comments: “This Plan highlights the wide range of significant actions which will be undertaken by the EPA in relation to the protection of biodiversity. The EPA has significant new roles under the Environmental Liability Directive in relation to the liabilities of operators causing damage or risk of damage to protected species and habitats, and the identification of appropriate remediation. In implementing its functions relating to the licensing and regulation of various activities, the EPA will continue to ensure that biodiversity is protected.”

The EPA’s first Biodiversity Action Plan was produced in 2009, to fulfil a commitment undertaken as part of its strategy, 2020 Vision – Protecting and Improving Ireland’s Environment. The plan was produced by a Biodiversity Team comprising representatives from all of the EPA Offices and will be updated biannually.

Clare County Council has announced details of the first ever Kilrush Biodiversity Week taking place from Monday, 23 April to Sunday, 29 April 2012. The inaugural programme of events will celebrate the many aspects of biodiversity in Kilrush and its environs from family days out in beautiful natural amenities to information and discussions about threats to biodiversity.

The aim of Kilrush Biodiversity Week is to encourage active learning about biodiversity through a range of enjoyable events and to increase public understanding that action taken locally has national and global importance. All events are free and family-orientated.

According to Mayor of Kilrush, Councillor Ian Lynch: “Kilrush is one of the most biodiversity-rich urban areas in County Clare. The Vandeleur Gardens and woodlands, Kilrush Creek, and the wetlands of the Shannon Estuary are wonderful examples of how natural sites can exist in close proximity or within urban areas.”

Clare biodiversity officer Shane Casey comments: “Many of the events taking place during the week will be aimed at the general public with other events targeted at primary and secondary schools in Kilrush. It is also hoped that members of the public who participate in Kilrush Biodiversity Week events can be encouraged to take an interest in helping to conserve biodiversity for future generations.”

A full programme of public events will be held on the weekend of April 28-29. There will be an early start on Saturday morning with a Dawn Chorus Walk in Vandeleur Woods at 5:30 am. A Moth Exhibition and Bug Hunt for children takes place in the Vandeleur Woods from 10:00 am, followed by a composting demonstration at 1 pm and a guided tour of the beautiful Vandeleur Walled Gardens. At 2:30 pm, Kilrush Secondary School will host a Wildlife Gardening Exhibition, while the day will concluded with a late night bat walk in Vandeleur Woods at 9:30 pm.

On Sunday 29 April, the focus will turn to the Shannon Estuary when a discounted price for Dolphin Watching Boat Trips will be available to members of the public. Meanwhile, Inland Fisheries Ireland will be inviting people to enjoy the marine touch pools at Cappa Pier at 12:00 pm, and participate in a seashore walk from 4 pm to discover the abundance of nature along the estuary from seaweed to waders.

Researchers at NUI Galway’s Ryan Institute are at the centre of conservation efforts in relation to mining for precious minerals at the depths of our oceans. In this new ‘gold rush’, the ecological assessment of the effects of mining operations will be key to sustainably exploiting resources at these very important habitats, according to organisers of a major workshop next week.

The Ryan Institute’s Patrick Collins and Dr Bob Kennedy have scheduled a high-level international workshop from 10-12 April with the aim of standardising methods used for assessing the ecological impacts of commercial mineral extraction at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Sometimes called ‘black smokers’ these volcano like structures sit thousands of metres under the sea and produce “seafloor massive sulphides”, sediments that are very rich in copper, zinc, gold and silver. They also support an array of unique life forms.

The minerals found at hydrothermal-vents are increasingly in demand, for potential uses in the production of superconductors, precision lasers and other electronics.

“We are seeing a gold rush to the bottom of the sea”, says Dr Bob Kennedy, an expert in benthic (sea floor) ecology with the Ryan Institute at NUI Galway. “Valuing the goods and services provided by ecosystems is always a difficult compromise. Mining hydrothermal vents involves the removal of the vents and adjacent seafloor massive sulphides using cutting and suction devices to transfer the ore to barges at sea. Where mining occurs, the habitat will be completely removed and there will be substantial disturbance to the adjacent area.”

The workshop, ‘VentBase’, is supported by the International Seabed Authority and InDeep, the international network for scientific investigations of deep-sea ecosystems. VentBase is set to attract academics and high-profile delegates from all over the world, including delegations from government bodies such as IFREMER in France, JAMSTEC in Japan, KORDI in Korea and NIWA in New Zealand. Commercial mining companies will also attend, with a presentation by Nautilus Minerals, the first company to actually begin mining.

At present there is just one site, Solawara 1 near Papua New Guinea, where mining is being actively developed. It has led to many calls in the scientific community and general press for a halt to mining at hydrothermal vent sites because of their high biodiversity value.

A biologist with the Ryan Institute at NUI Galway, Patrick Collins was part of an expedition last summer which discovered a new hydrothermal vent site in the Atlantic. While actual mining is probably a decade away in the North Atlantic, he believes this is the ideal time for Ireland to take a central role in managing this unique biological resource. For more information on the conference visit http://www.ventbase.org/.

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Hydrothermal vents support an array of unique life forms.

Though they have survived fires, insect outbreaks and logging, the forests of Europe may now face their biggest challenge ever – climate change. Disrupted weather patterns could intensify droughts, fires, storms, pest infestations, species loss, and other natural calamities harmful or even fatal to forests.

Rather than wait until Europe’s forests begin to die off, the European Union is taking steps to prevent such a catastrophe. The EU is supporting leading-edge research to help forest managers decide what kind of trees they should plant now, and what kind of pests and diseases should be monitored today so they won’t become a problem in a climate-changed future.

“Forests are incredibly complicated ecosystems that climate change can disrupt in equally complicated ways,” says Herve Jactel of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, leader of the EU-funded research project BACCARA.

Launched in 2009 with Eur3 million in support from the EU, BACCARA is a four-year project that is working to assess how climate change will affect the biodiversity and productivity of Europe’s forests. BACCARA is one of many joint efforts being undertaken during the ‘Year of the Forests’, which the United Nations declared for 2011 in order to help conserve the biodiversity of forests and sustainably manage the world’s forestlands.

To remove some of the guesswork from managing Europe’s forests, BACCARA’s researchers are trying to predict how certain kinds of trees will fare in terms of growth and pest-resistance in the decades and centuries to come. Among their findings, researchers have learned that the very complexity of forests might be the best insurance for coping with climate change.

“Planting several different species of trees, for example, can protect forests from insect attacks better than planting just one type of tree,” Herve Jactel points out. “So if climate change can cause harmful insects to thrive, this would be a good strategy to combat pests.”

The problem for everyone involved with managing Europe’s forests is that many types of trees can live for centuries, so a tree planted today could have to deal with climate changes for a very long time. So the challenge is to design multi-species ‘mixed’ forests that are more resilient against climate hazards.

The economic stakes are high for Europe, whose forest industry is worth Eur25 billion a year and provides 4 million jobs. Totalling some 1 billion hectares, Europe has more forestland than any other region in the world – from cork-oak and cypress forests along the Mediterranean, to the Scots pine taiga of Scandinavia and mixed forests of the Caucasus.

Two new EU reports show just how serious soil degradation has become in Europe. The reports show that between 1990 and 2006 at least 680 acres (275ha) of soil per day were permanently lost through soil sealing – the covering of fertile land by impermeable material – amounting to an area the size of Leinster. Soil erosion by water is now estimated to affect 1.3 million sq km in Europe, an area equivalent to 2.5 times the size of France. Soil degradation affects our capacity to produce food, prevent droughts and flooding, stop biodiversity loss, and tackle climate change.

The reports underline the need for action to prevent the ongoing deterioration of Europe’s soils. Erosion, soil sealing and acidification have all increased in the past decade, and the trend is likely to continue unless challenges such as rising land-use, the inefficient use of natural resources and the preservation of organic matter in soil are addressed. According to the policy report, five years after the adoption of a Soil Thematic Strategy, there is still no systematic monitoring and protection of soil quality across Europe. This means that existing actions are not sufficient to ensure an adequate level of protection for all soil in Europe.

In preparation for action at EU level, the Commission has been working to support soil awareness initiatives, research and monitoring projects, such as LUCAS, a survey on land cover, land use and agro-environmental indicators run by Eurostat. The Commission has also continued to integrate the objective of soil protection into other EU policies, including agriculture and rural development. Around Eur3.1 billion has been allocated to the rehabilitation of industrial sites and contaminated land as part of the Cohesion Policy for the period 2007-2013.

In addition to ongoing actions aimed at addressing soil degradation, the Commission intends to support research and soil monitoring, finalise guidelines on soil sealing and integrate further soil considerations in the upcoming review of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive. The Commission will also propose accounting for land use, land use change and forestry emissions (LULUCF) as part of the EU’s climate change commitment for 2020, as well as work at the international level to promote soil-related initiatives.

A scientist at the University of Reading has called for immediate action to save pollinating insects crucial to British wildlife and the economy. Simon Potts (pictured), Professor of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services at the University’s School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, says ‘strong conservation action’ was needed now to reverse the decline in the UK’s pollinating insects.

The plea comes as the first episode of a new TV series, Bees, Butterflies and Blooms, is due to be broadcast on BBC Two at 8pm on Wednesday (8 February 2012). Professor Potts, an expert in the impact of pollinators on ecosystems, took part in the series, which is presented by gardening writer and broadcaster Sarah Raven and aims to spur viewers to help save the under-threat insects.

“Wild pollinators, such as bumblebees and hoverflies, are responsible for most of the pollination of wild flowers and crops in the UK, and it is these insects, not honeybees, who are the unsung heroes working hard for us,” Professor Potts says. “The value of pollination services to agriculture in the UK is about £440 million per year, with the most valuable contributions made by wild bees rather than managed honeybees.”

He continues: “Our British pollinators are under severe pressure from habitat loss, agricultural intensification, diseases and climate change and strong conservation action is needed if we are to keep these essential elements of biodiversity.”

The conservation and sustainable use of our agricultural biodiversity is critical to future sustainable development, both in Ireland and internationally. In response to this, on Thursday, 9 February, the NUI Galway Plant and AgriBiosciences Centre is hosting AgBioDiv2012. The free event is Ireland’s first Annual AgroBiodiversity Conference. Agricultural biodiversity or agrobiodiversity refers to all biological and genetic diversity which is directly relevant to agriculture and food production.

Agrobiodiversity concerns the variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms that are used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture, including crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries. It comprises the diversity of genetic resources (varieties, breeds) and species used for providing the food, fodder, fibre, fuel and medicines that we depend on for our everyday lives.

AgBioDiv2012 organiser Professor Charles Spillane, Head of Plant and AgriBiosciences at NUI Galway, highlights that: “Since the early 1990s there has been a tremendous upsurge in activity to conserve Ireland’s rare livestock breeds and threatened crop varieties. A coalition of activities by the Department of Agriculture and Food, universities, NGOs, and dedicated individuals across Ireland has led to a vibrant community now involved in agrobiodiversity conservation and sustainable use.”

He continues: “The time is right for an annual conference to bring everybody together to take stock of what has been done, what can be done and what is necessary to do over the coming years to ensure that agrobiodiversity contributes to a vibrant and sustainable food and agriculture sector in Ireland.”

Such agrobiodiversity conservation efforts have ensured that native livestock rare-breeds such as Galway sheep and Kerry bog ponies and many threatened plant varieties have not become extinct over the past decade. Many such rare-breeds and varieties have become eligible for REPS (Rural Environment Protection Scheme) support. Ireland now has a national genebank, and we now store Ireland’s threatened crop varieties in the long-term Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the island of Spitzbergen inside the Arctic circle.

The line up of 19 invited speakers assembling for AgBioDiv2012 includes international speakers from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Bioversity International, and the National History Museum in Paris. A wide range of speakers from Ireland will cover agrobiodiversity topics including rare breeds of livestock, rare and threatened crops wild relatives, seed saving, forestry and tree conservation, seaweed diversity, horticultural and ornamental plants, energy crops, and honey bees.

The recent ‘State of Knowledge, Ireland’s Biodiversity 2010’ report highlights the importance of biodiversity to the national economy with an estimated contribution of over Eur2.6 billion.

AgBioDiv2012 will be held at NUI Galway on Thursday, 9 February, 2012 and is open to all who are interested. Registration is available at the conference website http://agbiodiversity.org, and is supported by the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, the NUI Galway Plant and AgriBiosciences Research Centre, and Genetic Heritage Ireland.

Dr Tina Aughney and Dr Roy Anderson have been recognised for their work on biodiversity resources by the National Biodiversity Data Centre (NBDC). The two have been presented with the Centre’s 2011 Distinguished Recorder Award. With Dr Anderson documenting 320 new animal and plant species to Ireland and Dr Aughney training over 1,000 people in bat surveying, their contribution to understanding Ireland’s wildlife is immense.

Bats and beetles are not usually the focus of awards in modern Ireland, but the National Biodiversity Data Centre (NBDC) is bucking the trend. Today Drs. Tina Aughney and Roy Anderson will be awarded the Centre’s 2011 Distinguished Recorder Award at a reception in Dublin. With Dr Anderson documenting 320 new animal and plant species to Ireland and Dr Aughney training over 1,000 people in bat surveying, their contribution to understanding Ireland’s wildlife is immense.

Acknowledging their outstanding contribution chair of the NBDC Dr Mary Kelly-Quinn says: “Ireland’s biodiversity is an important national asset, contributing Eur2.6 billion to the Irish economy each year. This asset provides us with clean water, productive soils, fresh air, pollination and pest control. Drs Tina Aughney and Roy Anderson have both committed thousands of hours both professionally and voluntarily towards the conservation and better understanding of this biodiversity resource. They are both leading authorities (nationally and internationally) in their chosen areas. Dr Tina Aughney has amassed a significant and high quality dataset on Irish bats while Dr. Roy Anderson’s area of expertise is on creepy crawlies and fungi.”

Ireland has a rich history of biological recording. Dr. Tina Aughney and Dr. Roy Anderson are continuing the legacy of famous Irish naturalists like Robert Lloyd Praeger in bettering our knowledge of our natural environment. This is the third year of the award with previous awards going to Ken Bond in 2008 for his work recording Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) and Paul Green in 2009 for his work in improving our knowledge of the Irish flora.

The National Biodiversity Data Centre (NBDC) is dedicated to the collation, management, analysis and dissemination of data and information on Ireland’s biological diversity. One of the Centre’s priorities is to promote and encourage biological recording in Ireland. In its simplest form a biological record tells us where a species occurs and the date on which it was observed. There are currently over 6,000 recorders in Ireland who have contributed records to the Centre either directly or through various recording schemes/organisations.

A new exhibit, labelled ‘Biodiversity around the World’, has just opened at Galway Atlantaquaria. Galway Atlantaquaria is the largest aquarium in Ireland and focuses mainly on the display of native aquatic animals and habitats. Biodiversity in Ireland and indeed around the world is a growing issue. In Ireland invasive plants and animals pose a major threat to some of our indigenous species and habitats and the same is the case internationally.

This ‘Biodiversity around the World’ exhibit at Galway Atlantaquaria combines information on invasive species in Ireland with the loss of biodiversity internationally. It highlights the amazing diversity of life in the Great Lakes in Africa, with a tank based on Lake Malawi. The Amazon basin and the tropical rainforests is another area of amazing biodiversity and the fish of the Amazon River are represented here too with shoals of piranhas and other fish.

The new exhibit is a celebration of the amazing variety of fish that exist around the world and complements the aquarium’s underlying theme of the wonder of the aquatic world and the importance of appreciating and protecting it. For more information visit www.nationalaquarium.ie.

The European Commission has presented a new strategy to protect and improve the state of Europe’s biodiversity over the next decade. The strategy includes six targets which address the main drivers of biodiversity loss, and which will reduce the main pressures on nature and ecosystem services in the EU by anchoring biodiversity objectives in key sectoral policies.

The global aspects of biodiversity loss are also addressed, ensuring that the EU contributes to combating biodiversity loss around the world. The strategy is in line with the commitments made by the EU in Nagoya, Japan, last year.

In Europe, biodiversity is in crisis, with species extinctions running at unparalleled rates. Many ecosystems are degraded to the point where they are no longer able to deliver the wide variety of services we depend on – from clean air and water to pollination of crops and protection from floods. This degradation represents enormous social and economics losses for the EU. Insect pollination, for example, which is heavily declining in Europe, has an estimated economic value of Eur15 billion per year in the EU. The situation is no less worrying at the global level.

The new strategy features six priority targets and accompanying actions to greatly reduce the threats to biodiversity. The actions include:

* Full implementation of existing nature protection legislation and network of natural reserves, to ensure major improvements to the conservation status of habitats and species.

* Improving and restoring ecosystems and ecosystem services wherever possible, notably by the increased use of green infrastructure.

* Ensuring the sustainability of agriculture and forestry activities.

* Safeguarding and protecting EU fish stocks.

* Controlling invasive species, a growing cause of biodiversity loss in the EU.

* Stepping up the EU’s contribution to concerted global action to avert biodiversity loss.

The strategy is in line with two major commitments made by EU leaders in March 2010 – halting the loss of biodiversity in the EU by 2020, and protecting, valuing and restoring EU biodiversity and ecosystem services by 2050. It is also in line with global commitments made in Nagoya in October 2010, in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity, where world leaders adopted a package of measures to address biodiversity loss world wide over the coming decade.

As an integral part of the Europe 2020 Strategy, the biodiversity strategy will contribute to the EU’s resource efficiency objectives by ensuring that Europe’s natural capital is managed sustainably, as well as to climate change mitigation and adaptation goals by improving the resilience of ecosystems and the services they provide.