Today, I was really delighted to be at the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Intel Corporation launch of a blanket bog restoration project in the Wicklow Mountains National Park (WMNP)
The collaboration aims to restore 60 hectares of blanket bog to increase water storage levels in areas that supply much of the Greater Dublin region. The project also aims to protect biodiversity and improve carbon storage. It is a public-private collaborative project that is one of the first of its kind in Ireland. Restoring our degraded bogs is central to revitalising nature and improving resilience to climate change. These beautiful habitats are vitally important for a range of species and also provide important carbon stores and sinks. National Biodiversity Week is an appropriate time to welcome Intel’s support for the NPWS objective of protecting biodiversity in the Wicklow Mountains National Park.
The biodiversity emergency demands an emergency response. We need all sectors of society to take science-led action for biodiversity, and this includes the private sector. I hope that this innovative pilot project will encourage a broader movement of financing and strategic engagement to support the achievement of Ireland’s biodiversity objectives.
Companies like Intel rely on natural resources like water and the ecosystems that provide those resources in order to manufacture their products. It’s vital that private sector organisations address the protection of the natural assets that they depend on in the same way as other types of risk. I welcome the leadership that Intel is showing and I look forward to seeing this pilot project progress.
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