Environmental analysis news: Biodiversity loss 'impacts economy and health'

Ireland's minister for the environment has warned that the loss of biodiversity could have a potentially devastating effect on not only the environment but also on the local economy and health.

John Gormley attended a seminar at the Botanic Gardens Glasnevin this morning (November 11th) which was set up to encourage information transfer regarding biodiversity between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Other areas under discussion included coastal management and green infrastructure.

In an interview with the Irish Times, Mr Gormley commented that integrating biodiversity into a range of different areas, such as spatial planning, tourism and recreation, was necessary.

He said: "This is a real challenge for biodiversity policy and its implementation and we need to find more effective ways of doing this to make progress in halting biodiversity loss."

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released its environmental performance review for Ireland last week.

Recommendations from the report included offering better incentives to encourage efficient water use and improving efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from transport, agriculture and in both the commercial and residential sectors.

Posted by Lauren Steadman