Issues Affecting Biodiversity

   Agricultural Systems and Support
  

About five thousand years ago, we began to farm, keeping livestock and growing crops.
This resulted in clearing land and cultivating it.
Some of our best habitats were created by farming long ago but in recent times farming practice has resulted in a loss of rough land, scrub woodland and wetlands.
There has also been a shift from small farms with mixed crops to large farms with re-seeded grassland which has less wildlife value.

However positive effects can arise from farming and stock breeding, such as, the variety of crops and livestock that have developed as part of our inheritance and their genetic diversity is also worth saving.

Forestry and Woodland Management

In the past most of NI natural vegetation was woodland and many terrestrial native species are dependant on this habitat.

However today it is one of the least wooded areas in Europe with only 6% of land under tree cover.

   Coastal and Marine Management

Nowhere in NI is very far from the coast, so many of our activities are likely to have an effect on coastal biodiversity. Also there is the effect from issues outside NI such as climate change and EC Fisheries Policy.

Commercial fishing has an impact on the marine environment; fish stocks are important in their own right and as part of marine food chains so it is important that they are not depleted and are managed carefully.

Fisheries Policy under the EU mean catch levels are set for the main commercial species, it is important that these quotas are set at appropriate levels. This policy is often criticized. Marine Pollution is a big problem; almost every human activity will produce by-products which will eventually arrive downstream in the sea, being unsightly and dangerous to living organisms and plants. Development around the coast has caused a great deal of habitat loss. Coastal housing and commercial developments have a consequent loss of habitat. Increase recreational use of the coast leads to disturbance of wildlife and development can impact on other sites downstream.

Freshwater Use and Management
   Much of Northern Irelands watercourses have been physically altered by drainage schemes, water abstraction, impoundment to create reservoirs, navigation, fisheries management and fish farming. The lowering of water levels in the largest lakes has had an adverse impact on the Biodiversity of such sites. Eutrophication is a problem in Northern Irelands waters. Eutrophication is the increasing enrichment of natural waters with plant nutrients, typically nitrogen or phosphorous. These nutrients are largely derived from man's activities, specifically from agriculture.
The effects are the excessive growth of algae and other aquatic plants, poor water quality and serious disturbances to the balance of aquatic life.

Such changes can destroy wildlife habitats and interfere with a range of water uses from recreation to the production of drinking water. Both DARD and the DOE have been involved with the University Of Ulster in carrying out Research into Nutrient Enrichment and NIEA have published proposals for a strategy to control nutrient enrichment.

Recommendations

For more details of the recommendations see the Northern Ireland Biodiversity Strategy.