The National Biodiversity Plan.

This paper provides an outline of the background to, obligations and functioning of the Convention on Biological Diversity which Ireland ratified in 1996. The Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands is preparing, in consultation with others, a National Biodiversity Plan to strengthen Ireland's commitment to the convention. The process of developing the plan and its possible content, which will address all areas, including forests, relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in Ireland, are outlined.