THE lack of Government spending on nature conservation is preventing effective legal protection for wildlife species, sites and habitats, according to the 1995 annual report of the Irish Wildbird Conservancy (IWC).
The report also criticises the diminishing funds for the core functions of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).
Mr Oran O'Sullivan, spokesman for the IWC, said the 1995 Estimates allocation of £3.84 million to the NPWS was 15 per cent lower than in 1993.
"Analysis of the Government's estimates for public services over the past three years reveals a very low priority being given to conservation, despite the constant use of Ireland's clean, green image as a promotional feature by the State marketing agencies," he said.
The report also said that underfunding of wildlife research, surveys and conservation had also caused a major deficit of authorative data on the current populations and regional distribution of Irish breeding bird species.