A Joni Mitchell song complained about rampant commercialism with the words "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot". It is a cautionary verse at a time when Ireland has much to be proud of but so much to lose. The last Ice Age ensured we have a limited range of wildlife compared to our European neighbours, and we owe it to our children to protect that vulnerable heritage. A three-year study of the impact of different kinds of farming on wildlife, involving 180 farms from Sligo to Cork,is to be conducted by scientists from UCD.
Birds, bumblebees, parasitic wasps and water insects have been chosen as good indicators of biodiversity, reflecting the general health of the natural environment. Differences in the variety of species found are expected to reflect water quality and the impact of commercial farming.
The EU hopes to halt the loss of species by 2010. The Government has committed itself to protecting biodiversity under the Rio de Janeiro Convention. Unlike other European countries, we have little data on the variety and extent of animals, birds, insects and plants in the countryside. This study is designed to provide that information so that it can be used to protect the environment and to encourage sensitive farming practices by way of Rural Environmental Protection Scheme (Reps) payments.
Ireland has changed dramatically in the past 50 years. Towns and cities have sprawled with increased industrialisation. Rural life has been transformed through the Common Agricultural Policy and membership of the EU. And standards of living have improved beyond recognition. The benefits have been obvious. But the drawbacks, in terms of lost wildlife habitats and declining biodiversity, are only now being recognised and addressed.
More than 150 kinds of Irish birds, animals, insects and plants are facing extinction because of farming and forestry practices, along with the impact of the construction industry and urbanisation. Remedial action is urgently required. And the Department of the Environment is currently engaged in a public awareness campaign designed to change damaging attitudes and practices.
Co-operation and social commitment offer the best way forward. But opposition by the Irish Farmers Association to the reintroduction of white-tailed sea eagles at Killarney National Park represents a setback. As on previous occasions, what could have become a unifying urban/rural project lost its allure in a welter of special pleading. As custodians of the land, farmers have obligations as well as rights. Without their voluntary support for a regime involving clean water and biodiversity, Ireland will become a poorer place.