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.

Today is the 20th anniversary of two key instruments for the conservation and sustainable use of nature in the EU: the Habitats Directive and LIFE, the EU financing programme for the environment. Twenty years ago, EU Member States unanimously adopted the Habitats Directive to safeguard the most threatened species and habitats across Europe. This was in response to concerns over rapidly declining wildlife and loss of natural habitats, resulting from land-use changes, pollution and urban sprawl. To give species and habitats space to recover, the Directive set up the Natura 2000 network of protected areas and the LIFE financial instrument has provided strategic support to its development.

Two decades after its adoption, the Directive has gone a significant way towards halting the large-scale destruction of our most valuable biodiversity assets, and a number of species and habitats are already showing signs of recovery. The Natura 2000 network contains more than 26,000 protected sites over an area equivalent in size to Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic combined. Almost 18 % of the EU’s territory is now included in the network, along with 200.000 square kilometres of protected areas at sea. Slovenia, for example, has designated over a third of its territory as protected areas.

EU funding for nature conservation has increased in the last 20 years. Adopted at the same time as the Habitats Directive, LIFE has contributed over Eur1.2 billion to the management and restoration of over 2000 Natura 2000 sites across the EU.

LIFE-funded projects are responsible for bringing endangered species back from the brink of extinction, like the Freshwater pearl mussel in Germany and the Czech Republic, the Abruzzo Chamois in Italy, the Hungarian meadow viper and the Spanish Imperial Eagle. LIFE is also supporting the conservation of the fire-bellied toad in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Latvia.

The large-scale destruction of valuable wildlife-rich habitats has been halted thanks to a great number of practical restoration projects across the EU such as those for protecting sand dunes in Lithuania, cleaning Posidonia beds of alien species in France, as well as restoring the Danube in Austria, the deciduous forest in Sweden, wetlands in the Netherlands, raised bogs in Poland and Denmark. Many of these initiatives have been supported by LIFE.

The Irish Government and the European Commission have agreed to work closely together on the urgent preparation of a national plan for the conservation and restoration of 53 internationally important Irish raised bog sites protected under the EU Habitats Directive. This plan will have the aim of comprehensively addressing the challenge of conserving the sites for future generations while having full regard to the concerns of affected turf-cutters.

The agreement is part of an Irish Government follow-up to an 8 March 2012 resolution of the Irish Parliament calling for such a plan. The national plan will be developed, as a matter of priority, as quickly as possible and in close consultation with stakeholders. This will entail establishling an appropriate structure to ensure that all interests can engage and participate in the plan’s preparation. Indeed, it is vitally important for turf-cutting groups and other interested parties to work with the Irish Government in the development and execution of the plan as the long-term protection of these bogs will depend on the participation and support of local communities.

The plan itself will be wide-ranging, looking at practical aspects of conserving, restoring and managing these sites, including the job-opportunities that such work can provide. The drafting of a national plan will allow solutions for turf-cutters within each of the 53 raised bog sites to be explored in detail. The Irish Government will also examine the feasibility of allowing, in a manner consistent with the Habitats Directive, some limited turf-cutting within a small number of the 53 sites.

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.

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.

The Government is establishing an independent non-statutory Peatlands Council to assist Ireland in responding in a strategic way to the requirements of the EU Habitat’s Directive, which requires Ireland to protect and conserve important peatland habitats.

Conor Skehan, a lecturer with DIT’s School of Spatial Planning, has been appointed as chair of the Council. As a former director of Bord na Mona he has experience of the peat sector. His consultancy experience in EIA and Habitats legislation gives him an overview of the legal and scientific issues which the Council will be dealing with.

Other members are being invited from the IFA, the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, the Turf Cutters and Contractors Association, the Irish Rural Link, a representative of the Irish Environment Network, Bord na Mona and the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Raised bogs in Ireland contain rare and threatened natural habitats that are protected under National and European law. A small number of raised bogs are on sites that are designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) or Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs). Raised bogs have almost vanished due to land reclamation, drainage and turf extraction. These sites are among the best examples of the tiny portion of such habitats left in Europe. The scientific advice available to the Government is that continued turf-extraction and conservation of these sites of European importance are incompatible.

The European Commission has been critical of Ireland’s approach to the protection of peatland habitat and initiated infringement proceedings against Ireland in January this year.

The previous Government decided that turf cutting should end on 31 raised bog SACs from 2010 and on a further 24 raised bog SACs from the end of this year. In the light of that decision, and the requirements of the Habitat’s Directive, the Peatland Council will be tasked with advising the Government on a number of key actions. These include:

* The drawing up of a national strategy on Peatlands conservation and management within 12 months, in consultation with bog owners and other stakeholders, to deal with long-term issues such as land management, restoration, conservation, tourism potential, carbon accounting and community participation in managing this resource.

* In the context of the national strategy, to draw up an agreed national code of environmental practice in regard to turf-extraction in designated sites, including a re-examination of the position regarding raised bog Natural Heritage Areas, which are protected under national legislation and the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, in advance of the 2014 cutting season.

A glimmer of hope, but much cause for concern. Those are the reactions from teams of scientists from around the world that have returned from an unprecedented search for 100 species of ‘lost’ amphibians – frogs, salamanders, and caecilians  that have not been seen in a decade or longer, and may now be extinct.

The Search for Lost Frogs, launched in August by Conservation International (CI) and theIUCN Amphibian Specialist Group (ASG), with support from Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC), sought to document the survival status and whereabouts of threatened species of amphibians which they had hoped were holding on in a few remote places.

However, five months of multiple, targeted expeditions have led to disappointing findings that conservationists say should sound an urgent wake-up call for countries, and prompt coordinated efforts to prevent further declines in the populations of these environmentally sensitive barometer-species. Only four of 100 missing amphibians that scientists set out to find were located. Eleven more rediscoveries were unexpected surprises.

The search – a first of its kind – took place between August and December 2010 in 21 countries, on five continents, and involved 126 researchers.

The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has decided that the temporary closure of the hunting season for wild birds, which was extended for an extra seven days last week, will be extended again for a further week.

The temporary closure is to protect wild ducks, geese and waders and other wild game birds during the cold weather. The National Parks and Wildlife Service urges all hunters to respect this measure which clearly has a conservation benefit for the long-term populations of these wild game species. This temporary closure of the hunting season will allow for the hunting of pen-reared birds, but this will require a licence.

The situation will be reviewed by Thursday 30th December.

The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has decided that the temporary closure of the hunting season for wild birds brought in last week should be extended for a further week due to the continuing cold and freezing weather conditions across the State.

The Department consulted with the National Association of Regional Game Councils (NARGC), other representative hunting organisations, farming organisations and Birdwatch Ireland, all of whom support this extension which will now close the hunting of birds up to and including 21st December 2010.

The temporary closure is to protect wild ducks, geese and waders and other wild game birds during this cold weather. The National Parks and Wildlife Service urges all hunters to respect this measure which clearly has a conservation benefit for the long-term populations of these wild game species. This temporary closure of the hunting season will allow for the hunting of pen-reared birds, but this will require a licence. The situation will be reviewed by Tuesday 21st December.

The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has decided that a temporary closure of the hunting season for wild birds will start on Wednesday 8th December 2010 due to the severe recent and continuing freezing weather conditions across the State.

The Department consulted with the National Association of Regional Game Councils (NARGC), other representative hunting organisations, farming organisations and Birdwatch Ireland, all of whom support the initiation of a temporary hunting ban.

The temporary closure is to protect wild ducks, geese and waders and other wild game birds during this cold weather. The National Parks and Wildlife Service urges all hunters to respect this measure which clearly has a conservation benefit for the long-term populations of these wild game species.

The species concerned are Mallard, Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon, Pintail, Shoveler, Scaup, Tufted Duck, Pochard, Goldeneye, Golden Plover, Snipe, Jack Snipe, Red-legged Partridge, Cock Pheasant, Woodcock, Woodpigeon, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose and Ruddy Duck.

This temporary closure of the hunting season will allow for the hunting of pen-reared birds, but this will require a licence.

Recently, a group of American birdwatchers were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime sighting when they observed the rare Peruvian Long-whiskered Owlet, a species previously seen only by a handful of people. This owlet is so rare that it wasn’t even discovered until 1976, and since then, the bird seems to generally prefer to be out of sight and out of mind, including a 26-year period without any confirmed sightings at all.

But in a seven-week period between September 21 and November 8, 2010, six tour groups, including visitors from the USA, Canada, the UK, Holland, Costa Rica, and Sweden, have seen the owlet near the Owlet Ecolodge at the Abra Patricia Reserve in northern Peru.

The species’ habitat has been protected there by American Bird Conservancy and its Peruvian partner ECOAN.

Long-whiskered Owlet.

The scientific name for the Long-whiskered Owlet – Xenoglaux loweryi – means ‘strange owl’ and refers to its small size, long bristles around the beak, and delicate feathers extending into ‘whiskers’ outwards from the face.

“The fact that the Long-whiskered Owlet is nocturnal, only lives in this area, and exists in very small numbers means that the visitors had a very exciting, once-in-a-lifetime birding experience. We are now starting to understand more about its habits and hopefully in the future more people will be able to see this, one of the ultimate birds for any birder,” says Sara Lara, international programs director for American Bird Conservancy (ABC), the leading bird conservation organisation in the US.

The Long-whiskered Owlet is ranked as Endangered under IUCN-World Conservation Union criteria due to its restricted range (approximately 73 square miles or 55,000 acres) and the high rate of deforestation that threatens its remaining habitat. The Owlet is mainly known from the mountains around Abra Patricia, triggering recognition by the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) of this area as one of 587 sites worldwide where conservation is critical to prevent species extinctions.