PRESS RELEASE: Radical transformation of our uplands required to overcome threat of wild fires 23 April 2019 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is calling for a radical transformation in how we manage our upland landscapes after another weekend of wild fires devastated habitats across Ireland. Last year the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine […]
PRESS RELEASE: IWT complains to the European Commission after 97 illegal wildfires recorded across Ireland in 2017 Published on: 12 September 2017 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) has formally complained to the European Commission (EC) that the Irish government is failing in its duty under the Birds and Habitats Directives to protect threatened wildlife in our […]
Ireland’s landscape is one of our most valuable assets. It’s the basis of our tourism and agriculture industries but more than that it provides us with water, flood control and clean air. It’s home to our wildlife and it’s where we go to restore weary minds. Indeed we use it as an effective tool when […]
PRESS RELEASE 01st April 2022 Irish Wildlife Trust welcomes condemnation of illegal fires by Minister Malcolm Noonan but more must be done The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) strongly welcomes the robust condemnation of illegal fires by Minister of State for Heritage & Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan however a lot more needs to be done […]
Press Release 26th April 2021 Irish Wildlife Trust calls for full investigation into fire at Killarney National Park and emergency measures to stop the cycle of infernos The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is calling for a full investigation into the causes and consequences of the fire which has destroyed swathes of Killarney National Park over […]
The Irish Wildlife Trust has called on farming organisations to support a new approach to land management after a wildfire sweeps through the Wicklow Mountains Special Area of Conservation Press Release: 16th April 2020 A massive, illegal wildfire has swept through the Wicklow Mountains Special Area of Conservation (SAC) through the evening of April 15th […]
Press Release: More needs to be done to stop the scourge of illegal wildfires The Irish Wildlife Trust is calling on Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed and Minister for Heritage Josepha Madigan to do more to stop the annual scourge of wildfires on the hills. Wildfires are illegal at any time of year while […]
PRESS RELEASE: Devastating weekend for wildfires across Ireland Published on: 23 March 2017 With a grim predictability, the first dry spell of Spring has seen a surge of wildfires across Ireland. Since Friday the Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) has recorded 15 wildfires from counties Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Galway, Donegal, Louth and Mayo. Eight of these were in areas protected for nature conservation […]
Press Release: destruction to wildlife and landscape across Ireland as 19 wildfires recorded in 10 days Published on: 30 April 2016 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) would like to thank the many people who responded to our call to log wildfires with us. In the 10 days from April 16th to 26th we received reports of 19 separate wildfires […]
Press Release: Irish Wildlife Trust urges people to log wildfires Published on: 19 April 2016 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is a national conservation charity. In recent years we have highlighted the devastating effects that illegal wildfires have on our countryside and wildlife. This year we are urging people to contact us with details of where, […]
December 8th 2021 Irish Wildlife Trust submission to CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 Link to downloadable pdf of submission To Whom it May Concern, The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is a national, charitable, membership-based organisation which was established in 1979. Our goal is to raise awareness of our natural heritage and its benefits to people. We […]
Press Release 8th December 2021 Irish Wildlife Trust calls for rewilding to be incentivised as part of €9.8 billion Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is calling for rewilding to be included in Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan as an option for farmers. Rewilding is a method of restoring natural ecosystems and is […]
Chapter 8: The Shannon Wilderness Park “On the chilly lakelet, in that pleasant gloaming, See the sad swans sailing: they shall have no rest: Never a voice to greet them save the bittern’s booming Where the ghostly swallows sway against the West” From The Children of Lir by Katharine Tynan (1898) “We can truly […]
Press Release 15th March 2021 Irish Wildlife Trust finds that no permits for ‘controlled burning’ were issued in the North, East or South of Ireland in 2020, and only two in the West The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) has received information from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage from Freedom of Information that […]
Chapter 4. The Wild Atlantic Rainforest Glen of the scarlet-berried rowan Fruit praised by every flock of birds, For the badgers a sleepy seclusion Quiet in their burrows with their young 14th Century Irish poem It is no more than a twig the size of a chopstick standing upright in the ground. Only […]
PRESS RELEASE: Irish Wildlife Trust calls for payments to be made to farmers for not farming Date: 23rd March 2018 As part of our submission to the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) the Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is calling on the government to support the ‘rewilding’ of land in certain areas by paying […]
Chapter 7: Pearl Valleys Farmland And precious their tears as that rain from the sky Which turns into pearls as it falls in the sea Thomas Moore (Irish poet 1779-1852) The water was slightly murky but as the swirling vortex slowed I could see the outlines emerge from the bottom of the tank. Even […]
Shaping New Mountains Chapter 3: Restoring Connections I am the wind which breathes upon the sea, I am the wave of the ocean, I am the murmur of the billows, I am the ox of the seven combats, I am the vulture upon the rocks, I am the beam of the sun, I […]
Don’t ask me to be optimistic As far as apocalyptic weeks go, the one just gone has been impressive. The week started with the publication of a study showing that the rate at which ice sheets in the polar regions are melting is tracking the worst case scenarios which had been predicted in the 5th […]
PRESS RELEASE: IWT is calling on the government to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency following the publication of the latest UN report 06 May 2019 The Irish Wildlife Trust is calling on the government to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency following the publication of the latest UN report to warn of catastrophic consequences […]
PRESS RELEASE: IWT welcomes news that burning of uplands will not be extended into March this year 28 February 2019 The IWT has welcomed the announcement from Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan, that burning of uplands will not be permitted into March of this year. IWT campaigns officer Pádraic Fogarty says: […]
IWT submission to the shape of the Common Agricultural Policy post-2020 Date: 23rd March 2018 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is a national, charitable membership-based organisation which was established in 1979. Our goal is to raise awareness of our natural heritage and its benefits to people. Since agriculture is the main land use in […]
Press Release: Prohibition on burning vegetation comes into effect on Wednesday (March 1st) Published on: 2 March 2017 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is reminding landowners that from Wednesday (March 1st) it is prohibited under the Wildlife Act to burn vegetation for the duration of the bird nesting season (ending August 31st). Last year the IWT recorded 27 wild […]
Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys appeared clueless and unaware of her responsibilities in an interview with Radio Kerry this morning (April 23rd). She maintained that fires were not an issue for her staff except where it occurred in Killarney National Park. She seemed totally unaware that fires also occurred in Wicklow […]
Goodbye to the Hills Pádraic Fogarty 26th March 2023 At a conference in Galway dedicated to the management of Ireland’s uplands regions, speaker after speaker raised concerns about the ecological degradation caused by over-grazing, the low returns for farmers on their sheep as well as the need for diversification and more native woodland in the […]
Press Release 02nd March 2023 Hill burning season a symptom of political apathy in the face of our biodiversity emergency The depressing predictability of the fires which have engulfed West Cork and Kerry in recent days is a symptom of chronic apathy by government departments in the face of growing frustration in hill areas. Despite […]
PRESS RELEASE 29th July 2022 Emissions reductions deal a dreadful failure of leadership The deal reached by the government, which fails to meet even the minimum legal requirement of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030, has demonstrated a dreadful lack of leadership. The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is particularly disappointed that more was […]
Is this progress? I had a dream that I was listing to Claire Byrne’s RTÉ radio show every day this week where she interviewed politicians from across the spectrum on the imminent extinction of curlews in Ireland. I imagined I heard Fine Gael’s Patrick O’Donovan list all the townlands in his constituency where curlews could […]
PRESS RELEASE 26th April 2022 Peat needs to stay in the ground The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is calling for the government to act to keep all turf in the ground where it belongs. After weeks of acrimony over a proposed ban on the sale of turf (along with wet wood and smoky coal) it […]
Doing Nothing on the Bogs It’s nearly a decade since I travelled to Glenveagh in Donegal to look at what I had been told was widespread illegality and habitat destruction inside the eponymous National Park. I found the accusations hard to believe at the time, given the high profile of the Park but there it […]
