Minister says post will help farms to become more pollinator friendly
The Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, with responsibility for Land Use and Biodiversity, Senator Pippa Hackett, today announced support for the All-Ireland Pollinator plan through the provision of funding for a Farmland Pollinator officer.
Making the announcement, the Minister stated, “I am delighted to be providing the financial resources for this important post. The Farmland Pollinator Officer will be based at the National Biodiversity Data Centre and will play a vital role in helping all of us, from local authorities to schools, gardeners and businesses, but particularly farmers, to work together to try to create an Ireland where pollinators can not only survive, but thrive. Pollinators play a key role in a healthy ecosystem, and taking action to protect and enhance them will benefit biodiversity, and also provide a vehicle for direct engagement with the farming community.”
The Officer will assist in the implementation of the farmland actions in the new Pollinator Plan. A specific work programme will be developed to support delivery of the actions and to safeguard pollinators on farmland.
Making the point that the current Pollinator Plan is being built upon the Minister continued, “The Programme for Government commits to supporting the development of a new Pollinator Plan for 2021-2025. I expect this to be published by the National Biodiversity Data Centre early in 2021, and I know it will include more ambition with the key objective being to make our landscapes and our farms more pollinator friendly.”
She added, “My department is fully committed to playing its part in helping to deliver a more ambitious pollinator programme on farms, and I am delighted to acknowledge and welcome that.”
Dr Liam Lysaght, Director of the National Biodiversity Data Centre noted that,“Ireland’s Pollinator Plan has been a hugely innovate approach to addressing biodiversity loss. We are pleased that thanks to the support of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine we can raise our ambitions around making farmland more pollinator friendly, thus preserving and enhancing this vital ecosystem service.”
Note for Editors:
Further details regarding All Ireland Pollinator Plan at:
https://www.pollinators.ie
The first All-Ireland Pollinator Plan 2015-2020 was published to build upon grassroots support and provide a framework through which all sectors could come together to better protect pollinators for future generations. The Plan is one of the flagship projects of the National Biodiversity Data Centre, who co-ordinates implementation of the Plan. The Plan is voluntary, but has been endorsed by more than 100 governmental and non-governmental across the island of Ireland and has seen continually increasing levels of interest and support since publication. A new plan will be developed to cover the period 2021-2025.