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 […]
PRESS RELEASE 20th January 2022 Burning in Wicklow Mountains National Park contrary to climate and biodiversity aims The Irish Wildlife Trust wants to express our opposition to the on-going burning of lands within the Wicklow Mountains National Park. See https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wicklow-Mountains-National-Park/261433833868972 Given the poor state of upland habitats, plus the emissions of smoke, water pollution […]
New forests please Hardly a week goes by without articles appearing in the farming press about the dire state of the forestry industry in Ireland. These articles are repetitive (typically reprints of industry press releases) and bemoan the difficultly in getting licences for routine operations. These rarely, if ever, mention that forestry has been a […]
Norwegian Wood Last week I spent some time walking in Norway. Outdoor activity in the country is a national obsession and starts at an early age with their utebarnehage (outdoor kindergardens). Here, children spend much of their week in the forest regardless of the weather. Babies in cots are brought inside for their naps only […]
Chapter 9: Bear Country “Do you remember, one day down in the glen you found a poor little wolf in great agony and like to die, because a sharp thorn had pierced his side? And you gently extracted the thorn and gave him a drink, and went on your way leaving him in peace and […]
The senseless logic of burning land Pádraic Fogarty March 13th 2021 Let’s say for a moment that I’m a farmer in the uplands and I want to clear land for my grazing animals. I’ve been told by all the farmer organisations that fire is a perfectly acceptable tool for the task and I may even […]
Natural Capital … as he waded slowly up its course, he wondered at the endless drift of seaweed. Emerald and black and russet and olive, it moved beneath the current, swaying and turning. The water of the rivulet was dark with endless drift and mirrored the high-drifting clouds. The clouds were drifting above him silently […]
Shaping New Mountains: Chapter 2 The Heart of the Matter “What is your trouble?” the gentle queen asked. “During a year”, Conn replied, “there has been neither corn nor milk in Ireland. The land is parched, the trees are withered, the birds do not sing in Ireland, and the bees do not make honey.” […]
The War on Rivers “In recent years land drainage policy has received attention on two counts: the adequacy of the financial returns to investment of public funds in drainage has been questioned, and it has been alleged that adverse impacts on the environment also result therefrom”. It might have been written yesterday but these lines […]
Part 1 Episode 1: In the End The beauty of the world hath made me sad, This beauty that will pass; ‘The Wayfarer’ by Padraic Pearse Imagine if all the birds vanished from Ireland. Picture for a moment your daily routine, except with no bird song, no seagulls rummaging around the bins, no rooks […]
Shaping New Mountains In 2017 I wrote a book called Whittled Away: Ireland’s Vanishing Nature. One of the reasons I wrote the book was because I didn’t feel that people realised the true extent of the damage that has been inflicted, and continues to be inflicted, to nature in our country. It painted a fairly […]
Fairy Flax Linum catharticum Lus na mban sí Fairy Flax is an annual or biennial herb found in seashore meadows, dry fields, or rocky outcrops or limestone pavement. The 5 petals of the plant are small (4mm), white with light veins and a yellow centre. It flowers from May to September. The flowers droop noticeably […]
PRESS RELEASE: Proposed burning regulations are no solution to solving issues in our uplands 01 February 2019 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) has made a submission to the proposed guidelines on the implementation of Section 7(1) of the Heritage Act 2018 which will allow controlled burning of vegetation during an extended season, including March. The […]
Local Biodiversity Champion Award Category C – (Project run by an Individual – leading change for biodiversity at local level) Scroll down the page to learn about the six projects shortlisted in this category Category Winner: Tommy Earley Sharing the biodiversity on his farm in Roscommon PROJECT A: Beara Rainforest by Eoghan Daltun […]
Introduction The Irish Wildlife Trust respects your right to privacy and complies with its obligations under the Data Protection Acts 1998 and 2003. The Irish Wildlife Trust needs to collect and use personal data (information – name, address, phone or email) for a variety of purposes (membership subscriptions, online donations, e-shop, e-zine newsletter, online surveys […]
IWT Submission to Draft National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) 2017 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) wishes to make a submission to the 3rd NBAP. It is unfortunate that the consultation period for this important plan was truncated to only one month and issued just prior to the Christmas break. This is contrary to the spirit […]
IWT Policies & Submissions Recent IWT Submissions 2026 – European Commission’s Call for Evidence on the European Ocean Act EU Ocean Act submission to call for evidence 2026 – Consultation on the regulation of costs payable in matters prescribed on foot of section 294 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 (Scale of Fees) […]
Press Release: Ban on hedge cutting still in effect until 31st August. Published on: 27 July 2016 The Irish Wildlife Trust is highlighting that the ban on hedge cutting still runs until the end of August 31st. The Irish Wildlife Trust’s office has received numerous calls from around the country regarding illegal hedge cutting this summer […]
Irish Wildlife Trust calls on Minister Coveney to deny single farm payments to those found responsible for illegal burning Reports from all over Ireland show that the annual bonfire of our countryside is well underway. This illegal practice is resulting in the massive degradation of upland habitats and is driving species to extinction. While illegal […]
Irish Wildlife Trust calls for all burning of uplands to be banned under any revision of the Wildlife Act. The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT), in its submission to the proposed changes in the open season for hedge-cutting and burning of vegetation in the Wildlife Act, has called for all burning of upland vegetation to be […]
