PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The project targets the Prioritised Action Framework (PAF21) for Natura 2000 in Ireland 2021-2027 and covers the entire country. Section E.1 of PAF21 (horizontal measures) outlines the gaps and barriers that need to be overcome to enable site-related maintenance and restoration measures of the PAF (section E.2) be effectively identified and delivered. As foreseen in PAF21, LIFE SNaP Ireland will directly address most of these and will support the implementation of measures to address the remainder. In summary, gaps/barriers hampering the implementation of measures set out in E.2 of PAF21 have been identified in three thematic areas:
1. Conservation data management (availability and quality)
While LIFE projects and other initiatives continue to identify necessary measures and to deliver improved management in their respective areas, there is a strong imperative to better manage and track all nature conservation management-related data at a national level. It is therefore important in an Irish and European context that a systematic approach to identifying, tracking, and measuring the efficacy of required conservation measures both in Natura 2000 and in the wider environment is put in place. The best way to implement such a systematic approach is through the establishment of a Conservation Measures Data Hub to facilitate the creation and management of a national inventory of conservation measures.
2. Integration/drawdown of complementary funding
The lack of a dedicated and coordinated approach at national level to sourcing and maximising complementary funding is a fundamental gap/barrier to eventual full implementation of PAF21. Building on the successful work being done by the LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature in securing complementary funding at a regional level, LIFE SNaP Ireland will establish a National Complementary Funding Unit, which will maximise the mainstreaming/drawdown of EU/corporate funding at national level.
3. Bid writing for LIFE and other funding sources
The potential to prepare and submit LIFE SAP proposals and other funding sources is severely limited due to a lack of experienced project writers with proven track records. This capacity gap represents a third main need to be addressed by the project in terms of investment and capacity building / succession planning. To this end, the dedicated staff to be recruited to the National Complementary Funding Unit within the SNaP Project Team will, over the duration of the SNaP, develop the requisite skills in the drawdown of all types of complementary and disseminate their knowledge to other relevant staff in the respective departments.
OBJECTIVES
The overall aim of LIFE SNAP Ireland is to contribute to the eventual full implementation of the site-related measures of PAF21, by addressing the fundamental problems hampering its implementation, as identified in the horizontal measures of the PAF.
These problems will be addressed through the achievement of the following specific project objectives:
- improve institutional capacity and effectiveness by the creation of an Integrated Data Platform for PAF Implementation (Pillar 1), including mapping and public facing dashboards, which will identify gaps and effectiveness of restoration measures, and by establishing the knowledge base within DHLGH to run that data platform after the project has ended;
- deliver restoration actions (Pillar 2) with a strategic added value for the implementation of EU nature and biodiversity policies, and particularly related to the implementation of PAF21 and the Nature Restoration Regulation, with an initial focus on more than one third of the total area of designated lagoons habitat in Ireland, blanket bog restoration on 500ha of afforested peat, and further measures on 1000ha of land to be identified in Phase 1;
- facilitate the integration of the implementation of priority measures identified in PAF21, and other EU biodiversity policies, into Complementary Actions (Pillar 3) under other mainstream financing programmes by building dedicated capacity at national level in a National Complementary Funding Unit;
- ensure continuity of the mainstreaming and integration achievements of the SNaP after the project has ended – by guaranteeing broader PAF concrete conservation delivery through the continued operation of both the Integrated Data Platform for PAF Implementation and the National Complementary Funding Unit after the SNaP has ended in 2032.
This represents a strategic use of SNaP funds – using the SNaP primarily as a catalyst for much wider implementation of E.2 restoration measures in PAF21 through the capabilities of the Integrated Data Platform for PAF Implementation and through an enhanced approach to the mainstreaming, coordination, and mobilisation of complementary funding via the National Complementary Funding Unit.
RESULTS
Expected results are organised around three pillars.
Pillar 1: Integrated Data Platform for PAF Implementation
- the creation of an Integrated Data Platform for PAF Implementation which will identify gaps and record the effectiveness of conservation measures, and establishing the capacity within DHLGH to run that data framework after the project has ended;
- increased national capacity to deliver EU-policies relevant to the monitoring of species, habitats, ecosystems and ecosystem services, and associated reporting;
- preparation of the ground for the post-2027 financial framework programmes;
- provision of a robust knowledge base on which to implement the National Restoration Plan that is a requirement of the proposed Nature Restoration Regulation.
Pillar 2: Restoration Actions
- concrete conservation actions for a programme of afforested blanket bog restoration on up 500 ha;
- a national lagoons restoration strategy for Ireland: concrete conservation measures undertaken through complementary funding will initially be concentrated on two lagoons in south-east Ireland;
- additional concrete conservation measures identified in E.2 of PAF21 on up to 1000 ha of other conservation priorities on sites to be selected in Phase 1;
- delivery of further PAF priorities addressed through projects and proposals financed through the National Complementary Funding Unit.
Pillar 3: National Complementary Funding Unit
- a specific mechanism to expand and enhance the national ability to coordinate efforts in identifying and securing funding from national, public, EU, and corporate/private funding sources for the implementation of E.2 conservation measures of PAF21;
- a National Complementary Funding Unit (a Complementary Funding Coordinator and a Complementary Funding Ecologist in the SNaP Project Team and one dedicated work package (WP4));
- the implementation of priority conservation measures identified in E.2 of PAF21, and measures identified as priorities under other EU biodiversity policies;
- the potential (largely un-tapped to date) in Ireland to enhance financial contributions from the corporate/private sector and other benefactors for the sustainable management and restoration of nature will have been developed and accessed.
