IRELAND HAS been judged "highly insufficient" and in the bottom three countries in the EU by BirdLife International for failing to halt the loss of biodiversity and protecting its wildlife.
The organisation's report Turning or Breaking Point for Europe's Wildlife evaluated progress in the EU 27 against 10 indicators and Ireland failed to score "adequate" in any of them.
Only Cyprus achieved a lower grading than Ireland in the evaluation. The report warned the EU must take rapid and decisive action to turn the tide on the deepening biodiversity crisis.
The report said by 2010 the EU should have halted the loss of biological diversity and showed why the EU failed to achieve this.
"Pressure on wildlife and ecosystems is still high with agriculture, transport, energy and urban development identified as the most important drivers of biodiversity loss," it said. "The picture emerging from our assessment is one of continuing impoverishment of biodiversity and of inadequate responses to counteract this."
Ireland was found to be inadequate in relation to the status of birds as more species near extinction. It was also found to be insufficient in protecting the status of species of importance in the EU.
BirdLife International, which is represented in 42 European countries strives to conserve birds, their habitats and biodiversity, said the study was carried out in late 2009. The assessments were based on a questionnaire covering the main aspects of the EU's biodiversity action plan.