Biodiversity loss 'impacts' economy

Poor environmental management is damaging to our wallets as well as our health, Minister for Environment John Gormley has said.

Speaking at a North/South seminar in the Botanic Gardens Glasnevin this morning, Mr Gormley warned "loss of biodiversity has potentially devastating impacts on our environment, health and economy".

The conference follows last week's report from the OECD which recommended Ireland strengthen its environmental management efforts.

The report also recommended further integration of environmental concerns into economic decisions, and reinforcement of international cooperation on environmental issues.

"The aim of [today's] all-island conference is to share information and experiences on biodiversity and planning, covering the areas of green infrastructure, coastal zone management, the Water Framework Directive, Natura 2000 and spatial planning" Mr Gormley told The Irish Times.

"Approaches such as green infrastructure are smart and strategic" the Minister said. "It enables the integration of biodiversity into a range of other policy areas including spatial planning, health, climate adaptation, tourism and recreation. This is a real challenge for biodiversity policy and its implementation and we need to find more effective ways of doing this to make progress in halting biodiversity loss".

Mr Gormley also warned that "because of the lead-in time, the effects of any actions taken to stop biodiversity loss may not be seen for many years. If we are to put things right we must start now".