LATEST: Tipperary County Council receive approval to appoint a biodiversity officer

Tipperary County Council have been awarded funding to appoint a biodiversity officer. 

The announcement today by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage means 11 more officers are to be recruited nationwide. 

 Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, TD, said today’s announcement demonstrates the Government's commitment to biodiversity. 

“These biodiversity experts are exactly the people we need at local authority level to engage local communities and to take practical action to conserve and restore wildlife species and habitats. I look forward to working with them shortly and to moving towards a full national rollout in the coming years,” said Mr Noonan. 

Biodiversity officers develop the Biodiversity Plan for their area, advise the local authority on biodiversity issues and the authority’s obligations in relation to protecting biodiversity. 

They also help local authorities to fully integrate biodiversity conservation into all of their policies, plans and actions, through training and provision of expert advice. 

The programme is co-delivered with the Heritage Council and the County and City Management Association (CCMA) with the support of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Chairperson of The Heritage Council, Dr Martina Moloney, said they are pleased by today’s announcement. 

“Through the appointment of these biodiversity officers, we are prioritising a community-based approach to biodiversity and habitat restoration. 

“The blend of local knowledge and evidence-based science has been very effective in the design and delivery of local heritage plans, and will ensure that local action for biodiversity will focus on the drivers of biodiversity loss, local priority species and habitats, and policies and actions at local level to halt and reverse biodiversity loss,” said Ms Moloney. 

Chief Executive of The Heritage Council Virginia Teehan said it was appropriate that the announcement be made on International World Wetlands Day. 

“Across Ireland, our peatlands play such a pivotal role in helping to mitigate the effects of climate change, and the permanent voice that these new appointees will bring to local authorities is a gamechanger in our efforts to confront these challenges and the other biodiversity challenges ahead,” said Ms Teehan. 

Chair of the CCMA Rural Development, Community, Culture and Heritage (RCCH) Committee John Mulholland said they too are happy to support the initiative. 

“The expertise of Biodiversity Officers significantly strengthens our efforts at local authority level to protect and encourage appreciation of biodiversity in our areas. Already biodiversity officers are making a marked difference in their local authority areas.

“This additional resource commitment will further assist the local government sector to build on our ambition to integrate biodiversity considerations across all of our operations and strengthen our capability to address biodiversity loss and promote climate action in our work and in our communities,” said Mr Mulholland.