Galway will soon have a new Biodiversity Officer, with Galway County Council one of ten local authorities awarded funding to appoint a national roll-out of biodiversity officers to deliver and drive local action for biodiversity.
The programme is being delivered by 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 (NPWS ).
Galway City Council already has appointed a Biodiversity Officer, but the new biodiversity officers will have a wide variety of responsibilities. Among other things, they will be required to:
Develop and implement a county biodiversity plan
Advise the local authority on biodiversity related issues and the authority’s obligations in relation to protecting biodiversity
Establish a county biodiversity forum
Assist local authority departments in integrating biodiversity into their actions and policies through training and supporting information dissemination
Promote new biodiversity initiatives based on best conservation practice
Once appointed, this will bring the total number of biodiversity officers employed in local authorities around the country to 14, with funding for a further 15 officers to be provided, as part of efforts to take greater action for biodiversity at the local level. A full national rollout is expected to be completed in the next three years.
This move represents a further practical step in the acceleration of the State’s response to the biodiversity crisis and follows several measures taken by Government to address biodiversity loss this year.
