As the most fundamental part of our national infrastructure,
Ireland’s natural heritage could even be seen as a ‘service
industry’ because it provides so much that is vital to our
lives. - The air we breathe and the quality of that air; - Water
for drinking and bathing, and the quality of that water; -
Fertile soil and pollinated crops; - Medicines, food and
building materials; - Flood control; - Raw materials for several
economic sectors such as farming, forestry and fisheries (total
value estimated to be worth at least €2.6 billion per annum to
the Irish economy); - The landscape that makes us feel like
we’re home. The vast variety of life on Earth - all its species
and their habitats - is called 'biodiversity'. With the rapid
loss of our biodiversity receiving increasing attention, the EU
has set new biodiversity targets for 2020 (after we failed our
2010 target for halting biodiversity loss). Recent studies
illustrate that awareness of biodiversity and biodiversity loss
are at very low levels in Ireland,