Biodiversity and Cultural Diversity in Ireland

There is an importance for both biological and cultural diversity in every country.
Biodiversity matters because it can provide you with food, fuel, medicine and many
other necessities that humans cannot live without (1). As humans, we have become an
integral aspect of biodiversity since we can have an impact on it positively or negatively.
Cultural diversity is also important because every culture is complex and can have the
capacity to change quickly and increase the flexibility of social systems (5). In terms of
Ireland, it is a country that has been filled with a rich natural heritage. With much of
Irelands biodiversity in the marine environment, this plays a key role in our nations wellbeing and the culture around us because it not only provides goods and services but
room for tourism as well (1). With that being said, there is a negative correlation in the
countrys connection between biological and cultural diversity due to threats to nature.
Around the world, a variety of species are being lost 1,000 times faster than what
is considered the natural rate primarily due to human activities (4). The current situation
with Ireland is that a majority of the countrys habitats have been reported to be of poor
conservation status from the Habitats Detective (4). In particular, only 39% of the
species listed are considered to be in a favorable state (4). These species include bees,
fish, molluscs, and non-marine mulluscs. Seeing that nearly nearly 80% of Irelands
population inhabits in the 15 coastal countries, this relates to cultural diversity as there is

a lack of awareness of maritime heritage and its cultural importance (3). While many
settlements over the centuries have evolved into attractive human habitats, poorly
deformed developed has caused damage to settlement heritages. As human pressures
on Irelands coastal areas are increasing, there is a great need of effective management
regarding environmental sustainability.
In the past, Irelands culture has been affected by the biodiversity of plants
through the Irish Potato Famine that lasted for six years between 1845 to 1852. Killing
over a million children, men and women, this had a vast influence on the cultural
diversity seeing that it caused another million people to flee the country altogether. As
genetic diversity eroded, Irelands capacity to maintain crop forest and livestock
productivity was virtually nothing (2). Since potato had become such a stable crop even
in the poorest regions, it changed the dynamic of not only Ireland but the entire world.

Irish Potato Famine image source: http://www.revisionism.nl/Potato/The-Mad-Revisionist.htm

Today, Ireland is known to have environmental issues that affects the biodiversity.
Its biggest issue that its species face are direct habitat damage, which can primarily be
caused by either infrastructure development and wetland drainage or water pollution by
nutrients (4). Although it is early to see dramatic changes that will alter Irelands
habitats, there have been signs of minimal changes through birds. A Bird Atlas
conducted that there has been evidence of shifts involving the distribution of breeding
Swift and Swallow migrants, which are part of sub-Saharan (4). Because there has
been declines in south-eastern Britain and an increase Ireland, researchers can indicate
that there is now a north-western shift (4). What this also implies for the country is that
coastal habitats will be affected due to increases in sea levels.
Sources
1. Actions for Biodiversity 2011-2016. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from
https://www.cbd.int/doc/world/ie/ie-nbsap-v2-en.pdf
2. Biodiversity to Nurture People. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from
http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/v1430e/V1430E04.htm
3. Conserving Ireland's Maritime Heritage. (2006, April 1). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from
http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/Marine/
Marine_Policy06_Eng.pdf

4. Ireland's Environment: Nature and Biodiversity. (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from
http://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/indicators/epa_factsheet_biodiversity_v2.pdf
5. Adams, B., Berkes, F., Dudley, N., & Pretty, J. (2012). The Intersections of
Biological Diversity and Cultural Diversity: Towards Integation. Conservation and
Society, 7(2), 100-112. Retrieved April 9, 2015, from
http://woods.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/documents/20121112-YES-TheIntersections-of-Biological-Diversity-and-Cultural-Diversity-Pretty-etal.pdf