The Wildlife Act, 1976 and the Wildlife Amendment Act, 2000 are the principal statutory provisions providing for the protection of Wildlife (both Flora and Fauna) and the control of activities which may impact adversely on the conservation of Wildlife. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage & Local Government is charged under various sections of the Act, with a large number of licensing functions which are discharged on behalf of the Minister by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).
EU Regulations are produced to transpose EU Directives into Irish law.
NPWS also acts as the Management and Scientific Authority for Ireland for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which is implemented in Ireland under Regulation 338/97.
In certain circumstances licenses can be issued to allow activities that are otherwise illegal. In particular licenses can be issued for the following purposes:
A complete list of available licenses can be found here
A permit is required to undertake certain activities on state lands in Ireland (e.g. boating, scuba diving, turf cutting). A complete list of available permits can be found here .
Section 52 of the Wildlife Act, 1976 as amended by the Wildlife Amendment Act, 2000 (subsection (7)) makes it an offence to release or allow any exotic (i.e. non-native) species, or to attempt to establish it in the wild, other than in accordance with a licence given under the Act to do so.
While there is no specific legislation in Ireland regarding dangerous animals, the provisions referred to in Section 52 are applicable to the release into the wild of dangerous animals. Furthermore, the Minister has power, under subsection (6)(a) of Section 52 of the Wildlife Act, 1976 as amended by the Wildlife Amendment Act, 2000, to prohibit the possession or introduction of any species or any part, product or derivative of such a species that may be detrimental to native species. This power has not yet been exercised by the Minister but regulations are being considered in the context of measures to exclude potentially invasive non-native species.
The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has prepared 27 Draft Management Plans for Freshwater Pearl Mussel in accordance with Article 13 (5) of the Water Framework Directive as transposed in Ireland by the European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 722 of 2003) and the Habitats Directive as transposed in Ireland by the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 94 of 1997). The objective of the plans is to restore the freshwater pearl mussel populations in 27 rivers, or stretches of rivers, which are within the boundaries of Special Areas of Conservation.
The 27 river sub-basins covered by these plans are: Bandon, Aughavaud (Barrow), Ballymurphy (Barrow), Mountain (Barrow), Bundorragha, Caragh, Clady, Clodiagh (Suir), Cloon (Shannon Estuary), Currane, Dawros, Derreen (Slaney), Eske, Kerry Blackwater, Gearhameen (Laune), Glaskeelan (Leannan), Leannan, Allow (Munster Blackwater), Licky, Munster Blackwater, Newport, Nore, Owencarrow, Owenea, Owenmore, Owenriff (Corrib), Ownagappul. These are located within the Shannon International River Basin District, the North Western International River Basin District, the Western River Basin District, the South Western River Basin District and the South Eastern River Basin District.
Copies of the Draft Management Plans and Programmes of Measures can be downloaded from http://www.wfdireland.ie/docs/5_FreshwaterPearlMusselPlans/ or through www.environ.ie
They are also available on request from Ms Gabby McAvey, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, 7 Ely Place, Dublin 2. (Tel: 01 8883213; Email: biodiversitypolicy@environ.ie)
The Department now invites written submissions or observations with respect to the Draft Management Plans. Submissions/observations must be made in English or Irish, preferably in electronic format, and should be forwarded to Ms Gabby McAvey (contact details as above) on or before 22nd June 2009. These submissions/observations will be taken into consideration before finalisation of the Plans.
This notice is issued in accordance with Article 13 (3) of the European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations 2003 (SI No 722/2003) on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.