The Birds Directive (Directive 2009/147/EC) came into force in Ireland in 1981 and Article 12 of this directive sets out that “Member States shall forward to the Commission every three years, starting from 7 April 1981, a report on the implementation of national provisions taken under this Directive.” The substance of Ireland’s and other Member States’ previous reports focused primarily on the legal transposition and technical implementation of this directive. This approach was maintained up to and including the 2005 -2007 reporting period.
However the emphasis and format of this reporting obligation was recently revised by the EU Commission to the extent that the reporting process has now changed from a largely process-based exercise towards an outcome-oriented one, dealing primarily with the status and trends of bird populations. An important revision is that the reporting periods will transition from a 3-year to a 6-year cycle (this first of the new format reports will cover the four year period 2008 – 2012 inclusive). The revised reporting period is synchronised with the reporting under Article 17 of the Habitats Directive, so that bird and other nature conservation information will be available in policy-relevant cycles at the EU level.
The Irish report for Article 12 of the EU Birds Directive is structured into two parts:
Ireland’s Summary Report for the period 2008 – 2012 under Article 12 of the Birds Directive
Ireland’s bird species' status and trends for the period 2008-2012
Spatial data relating to the Birds Directive is available here.