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First published online: 19 December 2025
Two strong themes of our work at IWT are Connection with Nature and Hope through Action. This year we have been busy progressing our strategy in line with these themes through the three interconnected pillars of our work; Advocacy for Nature, Building Communities for Nature, and Rewilding In Ireland.
2025 was a year of intense advocacy and community building for the IWT. By collaborating with other ENGOs, we broadened our impact and empowered our members and followers to take action for nature.
This year, our actions focused on lobbying for marine protection, campaigning against the weakening of environmental laws, community engagement, nature connecting events and policy submissions. We also introduced a more cohesive identity with a visual rebrand and IWT branches all over the country organised a diverse array of events and local actions to enhance biodiversity.
Puffins by James Basset, Photo of the Month shortlist May 2025
Communities for Nature
Through our Communities for Nature pillar we work to build communities that are connected with the natural world and empowered to protect and restore it. These communities include our online followers, our IWT members and our network of IWT volunteers who run our local branches in Monaghan, Dublin, Waterford, Kerry and Limerick. Together we delivered over 50 free and fantastic nature events across Ireland in 2025.
National Biodiversity Week saw an exciting programme of IWT events across Ireland. Highlights included our perennially popular bee workshops and bat walks, a deep dive into the beauty below the surface at Carlingford Lough, a celebration of the Natterjack Toad in Castlegregory in Kerry, workshops on dragonflies, butterflies, and tree identification, and a collaborative exploration of the intertidal area with Coastwatch Ireland and the Environmental Forum.
This year the IWT Monaghan Branch continued their inspiring work empowering local conservation. They have initiated an innovative programme mapping the Dromore River Catchment, using citizen science (geographical mapping, biodiversity recording) to inform future nature restoration actions. In recognition of this, they were a finalist in the 2025 National Lottery Good Causes Awards. You can read more about their latest work in the winter issue of Irish Wildlife, our members’ magazine.
IWT Monaghan Branch Members at the Good Cause Awards
Our Limerick Branch continue to organise a diverse programme of events including a Fungi Foray in Cratloe Woods with expert Tom Harrington and their highly informative lecture series at Mary Immaculate College, featuring an eclectic line-up of speakers. This continues into the spring – check out our Events page for details. Across the county boundary, our Kerry branch works with Tidy Towns groups and the County Council to increase people’s understanding of local biodiversity such as hedgerows, wildflowers and woodlands. Our Waterford Branch runs monthly biodiversity walks to observe local flora and fauna. This may include a spot of stream dipping to look for interesting invertebrates, tree identification, and bat detection.
Meanwhile Green Drinks has returned thanks to the Dublin Branch. To kick off the new series, IWT CEO Kieran Flood discussed the importance of re-establishing our connection to the natural world and our work in this area. Green Drinks is an informal event, where we meet in pubs for casual talks and discussions on wildlife topics, fostering community and shared passion for the environment. We look forward to more in 2026.
Throughout the year, we ran educational webinars to share expertise on topics including hedgerow protection, wildlife photography, and the complex issues regarding inshore trawling. You can watch these back on our YouTube channel.
IWT Waterford Branch November walk in Mountain Grove, Co. Kilkenny
Advocacy for Nature
Having secured the passing of the EU Nature Restoration Law in 2024, the next step in the process is drafting national Nature Restoration Plans (NRP) for each EU country. This year the National Parks and Wildlife Service ran a Leaders Forum on nature restoration to inform this plan. We attended the inaugural Leader Forum on the National Restoration Plan (NRP) in March, with follow up sessions on specific areas later in the year. The Forum gave us an opportunity to speak up as policy makers draft the NRP, due in September 2026. The NRP must detail how Ireland plans to hit the targets within the EU Nature Restoration Law. Farmers, communities, NGOs and experts continue to ask for dedicated funding for the NRP. The results of the NPWS Report on the Status of EU Protected Habitats and Species inform our urgency. The State needs to properly fund and support nature restoration.
Grace Carr joined the Marine Leaders Forum
European Maritime Days took place on 22 and 23 May. This annual event for Europe’s maritime community is held in a different European city each year. This year, it took place in Castletownbere in Cork, offering us the opportunity to meet with Minister of State for Fisheries and the Marine, Timmy Dooley, and EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadís. It was encouraging that Commissioner Kadis agreed with us that the Common Fisheries Policy has the tools we need to help create healthy marine ecosystems and a sustainable economy. Article 17 (if implemented) should reward sustainable fishing and incentivise the fishing industry to move to less destructive practices. Ireland does not fully implement this article and its enforcement should be a priority. The best and quickest way to see real change on the ground is to effectively enact what we already have, rather than create new papers and reports.
In June, our Marine Advocacy Officer, Grace Carr, represented us at the UN Oceans Conference in Nice, France, with Fair Seas (of which IWT is a founding member). The IWT is also part of an EU wide Marine Protected Area project with Seas at Risk (a Brussels based marine ENGO). At the Conference, Grace spoke about the indiscriminate and unregulated fishing for sprat that has been happening in Irish inshore waters. In July, the government finally reintroduced a ban on larger fishing vessels trawling in our inshore waters. This was a rare win as we had been campaigning for an end to the pair trawling of our bays and estuaries for many years. While we welcome the ban we continue to highlight the issues with unsustainable fisheries in Ireland and the need to support smaller local fishing communities rather than industrial trawlers.
UN Oceans Conference Blue March protest in June 2025
Throughout the summer, we continued our in-depth work on fisheries, building relationships with fishing communities and working more on the issues surrounding marine conservation and fisheries in Ireland. This included the filming of a documentary called Trawling for Answers with Swimming Heads Productions which will be launched early next year – stay tuned for updates on screenings!
In October, we attended EU Ocean Week in Brussels. Grace spoke in the EU Parliament alongside Blue Marine Foundation and FishSec – The Fisheries Secretariat. She highlighted the underlying issues in achieving sustainable inshore fisheries in Irish waters. You can watch her presentation on Small Fish, Big Impact. We also co-organised events including a Focail na Farraige event which highlighted the connection between Ireland’s marine life, coastal communities, and the Irish language.
In November, there was good news for the Glen of the Downs in Wicklow as the NPWS purchased 100 acres of forestry land adjacent to the nature reserve. The IWT have been campaigning for this NPWS purchase as we want to see the state playing a lead role in protecting nature in Ireland for the benefit of all. Nature restoration protects our natural heritage, restores ecosystems and their wildlife, and helps fight climate change. It’s a win for wildlife, people and the planet.
In September, we joined the coalition of European ENGOs in the Hands Off Nature campaign. The European Commission’s proposed “simplification of administrative burdens” was identified as a threat to laws including the Nature Restoration Law and Water Framework Directive. Our coalition secured a massive response in just 10 days, with 200,000 submissions, sending a clear message to decision-makers that citizens demand stronger enforcement of environmental laws rather than dismantling them. However, the EU Commission has continued their plans for deregulation. Alongside the Environmental Pillar and other environmental groups, we will continue to campaign against the “Omnibus” packages and call on our followers to rally with us. Ní neart go cur le chéile. There is no strength without unity.
Rewilding in Ireland
Rewilding is an inspiring concept that is close to our heart at the IWT and with this in mind we organised an autumn seminar series on the topic, in collaboration with the Trinity College Dublin Centre for Environmental Humanities. The series explored rewilding in Ireland, Scotland and continental Europe and each event was very quickly booked out by our newsletter subscribers (who got first notification of the events).
Rewilding in Ireland seminar with Pádraic Fogarty, Mary Reynolds, Eoghan Daltun, and Kieran Flood at Trinity College Dublin in September 2025
We kicked off the series with Rewilding in Ireland where we heard from Eoghan Daltun, Mary Reynolds, and Pádraic Fogarty. Key topics included rewilding as a tool for tackling biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate change, and practical actions from local projects to large-scale habitat restoration.
For Rewilding in Scotland we welcomed experts Peter Cairns and Louise Ramsay (Bamff Estate), who focused on the economic potential of rewilding and challenges around land ownership and ecological blindness. We were treated to some stunning wildlife photography and footage of the incredible effect of beavers on the landscape.
We concluded the series with Rewilding in Europe, featuring a keynote presentation by Professor Jens-Christian Svenning, followed by a panel discussion with Irish ecologists and nature writers Pádraic Fogarty and Anja Murray. Professor Jens shared some fascinating research into the past, present, and future of rewilding on the continental scale before we dove into a bold discussion of what a wilder Ireland might look like.
Professor Jens-Christian Svenning, Anja Murray, and Pádraic Fogarty, panellists at the Rewilding in Europe seminar at Trinity College Dublin in November 2025
Organisational Resilience
Following months of thoughtful planning, we introduced our refreshed look in April: a new logo and colour palette that better reflect who we are today, the breadth of our work, and our bold vision for nature restoration in Ireland. As our work continues to expand, spanning land and sea, so too has the need for an identity that keeps pace.
In April we also moved to our new office, which is closer to Dublin city centre and therefore easier to access for local and visiting volunteers.
In September Charlotte Salter-Townshend joined us as our Communications and Network Officer. Charlotte now plays a key role growing our community for nature and fostering hope by sharing our work to protect and restore biodiversity.
We’ve added some new columns to our magazine Irish Wildlife (Places to Connect and Inspired by Nature) and freshened our online presence to further connect people with nature and grow the IWT community. If you haven’t yet, consider joining us as a member, subscribing to our newsletter, and following us on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, LinkedIn.
IWT Kerry Branch listening for Natterjack toads at Castlegregory in May 2025
We conclude our yearly wrap by thanking our volunteers, members, collaborators, and friends for all your hard work and support! We look forward to a 2026 full of potential as we continue to work for a brighter, wilder future for us all.