Richard Boyd Barrett warns biodiversity loss fuels pandemics
Richard Boyd Barrett argued that the climate situation is an emergency and warned that biodiversity loss increases the risk and frequency of pandemics. He urged protection and expansion of ancient woodlands, investment in native forestry and biodiversity, and stronger retrofitting and upskilling programmes.
Main argument
Richard Boyd Barrett linked the climate emergency to a heightened pandemic risk, saying the destruction of biodiversity removes a natural firebreak against disease. He cited recent outbreaks including H1N1, swine flu, bird flu, the coronavirus, SIRS, Mars, Ebola as examples of zoonotic threats made more likely by habitat loss.
State of ancient woodlands in Ireland
He highlighted the precarious state of ancient woodlands, saying they have been almost completely destroyed and quoting the figure "0.00.2 percent" remaining in the country. He warned these remaining woodlands are under pressure from invasive species and other threats and called for their protection and expansion.
Policy proposals on forestry and agriculture
He criticised monocultural forestry and agricultural practices that destroy biodiversity and argued for a shift to indigenous native trees and diverse habitats. He pressed for real focus and investment in protecting and nurturing ancient woodlands and creating native woodland on farms as an alternative to monoculture.
Support for schemes and just transition measures
He spoke in favour of schemes to support biodiversity recovery, mentioning the REP scheme and the Just Transition Fund as measures he supports. He said incentives should be aligned to de-incentivise practices that harm biodiversity and to encourage recovery on land and at sea.
Retrofitting and skills development
He called for a scaled-up retrofit agenda and emphasised the need for upskilling to meet demand, proposing cooperation with institutes of technology and ETBs. He said the government aims to substantially increase retrofit activity and that training programmes should prepare a larger cohort for those opportunities.
Parliamentary response and allowance issue
In the parliamentary exchange the Taoiseach acknowledged the point and said he took it seriously while noting he did not have conclusive scientific proof. The Taoiseach also clarified that the opposition allowance ceases when a member becomes Taoiseach, in response to a related question.
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Teachta, the climate situation was an emergency that needed to be addressed before Covid-19 but the urgency to address the climate emergency is now multiplied very significantly by the advent of Covid-19 because in fact there is a very important natural intersection between the destruction of biodiversity and the proliferation the more frequent proliferation of pandemics one of the questions that serious scientists are asking and to some extent are suggesting and have evidence to believe about the frequency of pandemics in recent years that it is linked to the destruction of biodiversity H1N1, swine flu, bird flu, the coronavirus, SIRS, Mars, Ebola just to name some of the more well-known ones. Why is this happening? One very significant reason is because of the destruction of biodiversity because biodiversity acts as a natural firebreak on the spread of virus and disease. The destruction of biodiversity in particular the destruction of natural habitats and forests creates the conditions where pandemics of this sort and zoonotic the jumping of viruses from animals to humans becomes more likely. Now that's important because we need to really grasp that very important fact. Now where are our natural biodiverse most natural biodiverse areas in this country? They're the ancient woodlands which have been almost completely destroyed. Do you know how much ancient woodland is left in Ireland now at Taoiseach? 0.00.2 percent and it's under pressure and it's under pressure from the lack of biodiversity then impacting and having its own version of viruses in the sense of invasive species threatening it. In Killarney Natural Park for example. My point is this, we need to protect the ancient woodlands, we need to nurture them, we need to let them expand and we need real focus and investment in this area rather than monocultural forestry and forms of agriculture that are destroying our biodiversity in a way that is threatening ultimately not just the natural world but actually the ability of the planet to sustain our existence. I take Deputy Boyd Barrett's point very seriously and but I don't have the scientific you know prove it. I'm aware of the thesis that's out there in terms of the linkage between you know the weakening biodiversity and the growth of pandemics but there can be different factors as well. I mean I think the growth of the world population itself has to be a factor and which in certain areas is certainly facilitating ease of spread. So it's interesting you know SARS all in a decade, sorry more than a decade we've had SARS, you know we've had MERS, we've had as you H1, we've also had the swine flu and so on. COVID is the one that got away in so far as it wasn't tested and contract traced out of existence and I would have spoken to a number of scientists who would equally be of a view that we may see more and more of these more frequently now than we would have for the last 100 years. I support fully every effort made to retain and strengthen our biodiversity and particularly you mentioned ancient woodlands. I think we have to do everything we possibly can to protect but also de-incentivise the nurturing of our biodiversity which can recover if it's given the space to recover both marine and on land and that is why I favoured the REP scheme and the Just Transition Fund and why I also favour initiatives to create more native woodland on farms and I think we should try and persuade farmers to do this. You have to have a contrast to the monoculture to the forestry policy. I think we need to really grow more and more indigenous native Irish trees on a grander scale than we've been doing up to date and that's extremely important and that's something I will work with the responsible ministers in that regard and in terms of the retrofit agenda, you know obviously there will have to be a degree of upskilling and I think we have to work with the institutes of technology and the ETBs to make sure we can develop programs to bring a greater cohort of people who will be skilled in the retrofitting area because I think there will be significant opportunities in that field into the future because I think we do aim as a government to substantially increase the number of retrofits and the retrofitting activity generally. And in relation to Deputy MacDonald's final question, the allowance is an opposition allowance and it ceases when you're no longer are a member or an opposition leader and therefore it has ceased on becoming Taoiseach. That's the basic approach to that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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