Biodiversity officer to be appointed in Laois to protect wildlife

Laois is to get its first Biodiversity Officer whose job will be to protect wildlife and nature across the county.

Laois is among 11 counties announced to get funding for the job, with all expected to be appointed by September.

The job will involve developing a Biodiversity Plan for Laois, and advising the local authority on biodiversity related issues and the authority’s obligations in relation to protecting biodiversity.

They will also help local authorities to fully integrate biodiversity conservation into all of their policies, plans and actions, through training and provision of expert advice.

The extra 11 officers will bring to 25 the total number of biodiversity officers in local authorities across Ireland, following last year’s approval for the appointment of ten officers.  A full national rollout is expected to be completed within the next 2 years. 

Laois County Council CEO John Mulholland welcomed the announcement, speaking in his capacity as Chair of the County and City Management Association (CCMA) Rural Development, Community, Culture and Heritage (RCCH) Committee.

“The CCMA is delighted to support this important Biodiversity Officer Programme. The expertise of Biodiversity Officers strengthens significantly our efforts at local authority level to protect and encourage appreciation of biodiversity in our areas.

“Already biodiversity officers are making a marked difference in their local authority areas. This additional resource commitment will further assist the local government sector to build on our ambition to integrate biodiversity considerations across all of our operations and strengthen our capability to address biodiversity loss and promote climate action in our work and in our communities,” the Laois CEO said.

It comes four years after the Dáil declared a Biodiversity Emergency back in 2019, and made a commitment in the Programme for Government to tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis.

It also follows the first Irish Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity Loss in 2022 where citizens have voted overwhelmingly to recommend a referendum to amend the Constitution to protect biodiversity.

Full list of local authorities to appoint new biodiversity officers below story.

Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform is Malcolm Noonan, TD.

“The appointment of another 11 biodiversity officers is further evidence of our commitment to addressing the biodiversity emergency and fulfilling our objectives as set out in the Programme for Government. These biodiversity experts are exactly the people we need at local authority level to engage local communities and to take practical action to conserve and restore wildlife species and habitats. I look forward to working with them shortly and to moving towards a full national rollout in the coming years.”

Chairperson of The Heritage Council is Dr Martina Moloney.

“Through the appointment of these biodiversity officers, we are prioritising a community-based approach to biodiversity and habitat restoration. The Heritage Council is pleased to be partnering with the County and City Management Association, to deliver this programme with the support of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. 

“The blend of local knowledge and evidence-based science has been very effective in the design and delivery of local heritage plans, and will ensure that local action for biodiversity will focus on the drivers of biodiversity loss, local priority species and habitats, and policies and actions at local level to halt and reverse biodiversity loss,” Dr Moloney said.

Virginia Teehan, Chief Executive of The Heritage Council, said:

“It is appropriate that we are making this announcement on World Wetlands Day, an international day of celebration for wetlands all over the world. Across Ireland, our peatlands play such a pivotal role in helping to mitigate the effects of climate change, and the permanent voice that these new appointees will bring to local authorities is a gamechanger in our efforts to confront these challenges and the other biodiversity challenges ahead.”

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The programme is being delivered by the Heritage Council and the County and City Management Association (CCMA) with the support of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

County councils in Laois, Carlow, Cork, Donegal, Leitrim, Longford, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Tipperary and Limerick City and county, are now approved to appoint a biodiversity officer.

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Last September 2022 ten others were approved and are at an advanced stage in recruiting. They are in Clare, Cork City, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Offaly, Sligo, Westmeath and Wicklow.

Four local authorities have already appointed a biodiversity officer, in Galway City Council, Fingal County Council, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council and Dublin City Council.