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Wildlife
Wildlife needs places where habitat is protected.
But less than 1 per cent of Ireland is protected in Nature Reserves, the strictest form of nature protection.
420 Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) have been designated. However, SAC management plans have not been implemented for these sites, so they are not getting the protection they require.
Other examples of poor protection are:
- Draft Rural Housing Guidelines allow housing in SACs
- Glen of the Downs Nature Reserve was decimated to cut car journey times by a few seconds
- 18 bird species are in serious decline
- Over 1 thousand kilometres of hedgerows were lost between 1997 and 1999
- Atlantic salmon numbers have declined dramatically, yet Ireland is the only European country that still allows drift-net fishing
- Peat bogs have decreased by 8 per cent between 1990 and 2000
- Friends of the Earth will be campaigning to ensure that all designated sites are properly protected. European and National laws should be fully enforced.
Image © Declan Allison/Friends of the Earth
