SEA Environmental Report Appendix III: Non-Technical Summary
Cork Harbour, the River Lee and associated water courses, estuaries, salt marshes, reedbeds and intertidal mudflats are of ecological importance, providing a habitat for a variety of plant and animal species including mosses, lichens and bats and act as a corridor for the movement of species between the surrounding countryside and urban areas. These areas contain many rare and threatened habitats and species of national and international importance, including those protected under the national and European legislation. A network of urban green spaces, including gardens, parks, graveyards, amenity walks, hedgerows, railway lines and patches of woodland and scrub, provide habitats and ecological connectivity within the City and beyond. Designated sites within and close to the City include Special Areas of Conservation 1 (SACs) and Special Protection Areas 2 (SPAs). These are mapped on Figure 3.1. There are three European sites (two SACs and one SPA) designated within/nearby, comprising:
Great Island Channel SAC (001058) – c.1.40 km to the east of the City; Blackwater River (Cork/Waterford) SAC (002170) – c.7 km to the north of the City; and Cork Harbour SPA (004030) – partially within the eastern parts of the City.
CORINE 3 land cover mapping shows that the most dominant land cover types are urban fabric (concentrated within the City’s centre) and pastures and agricultural lands (in the areas surrounding the City’s centre). Existing Problems Ireland’s Article 17 report on the Status of EU Protected Habitats and Species in Ireland (DCHG, 2019) identifies various Irish, EU-protected habitats and species to be of unfavourable status and many to be still declining, although it also identifies that a range of positive actions are underway. Categories for pressures and threats on Ireland’s habitats and species identified by the report include: Agriculture; Forestry; Extraction of resources (minerals, peat, non-renewable energy resources); Energy production processes and related infrastructure development; Development and operation of transport systems; Development, construction and use of residential, commercial, industrial and recreational infrastructure and areas; Extraction and cultivation of biological living resources (other than agriculture and forestry); and Climate change. Ireland’s Article 12 Birds Directive Reports and the 6 th National Report under the Convention of Biological Diversity identify similar issues. The Plan includes measures to contribute towards the protection of biodiversity and flora and fauna and associated ecosystem services. Previous changes in land uses arising from human development have resulted in a loss of biodiversity and flora and fauna however, legislative objectives governing biodiversity and fauna were not identified as being conflicted with.
1 SACs have been selected for protection under the European Council Directive on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (92/43/EEC) due to their conservation value for habitats and species of importance in the European Union. The Habitats Directive seeks to establish Natura 2000, a network of protected areas throughout the EU. It is the responsibility of each member state to designate SACs to protect habitats and species, which, together with the SPAs designated under the 1979 Birds Directive, form Natura 2000. 2 SPAs have been selected for protection under the 1979 European Council Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds (79/409/EEC) - referred to as the Birds Directive - due to their conservation value for birds of importance in the EU. 3 The CORINE (Coordinated Information on the Environment) land cover data series was devised as a means of compiling geo-spatial environmental information in a standardised and comparable manner. CORINE has become a key data source for informing environmental and planning policy on a national and European level. The main land cover type in Ireland is agricultural land including forestry, which accounts for two-thirds of the national landmass. Most of this is permanent grassland pastures. Peatlands and wetlands are the second most widespread land cover type, covering almost one- fifth of the country. While forested areas cover about one-tenth of the country. Despite rapid development in the past two decades, Ireland’s landscape is predominantly rural and agricultural.
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CAAS for Cork City Council
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