OPINION Nature Restoration must be supported by Irish MEPs By Damien Thomson Political Advisor to the Left grouping in the European Parliament on environment & climate, July 10th 2023 On Wednesday (July 12th), there will be an extraordinarily decisive vote in the European Parliament which will decide whether we have a chance of overcoming […]
Three years in government Pádraic Fogarty 1st July 2023 The Government recently celebrated three years in office, how is it doing in meeting nature objectives? I wrote a blog after its first anniversary in 2021 and the same terms and conditions apply to the one you are about to read. A year is not a […]
Press Release European Court of Justice issues damning indictment of Ireland’s failure to protect nature 29th June 2023 The European Court of Justice today issued a damning finding against Ireland for its failure to implement the Habitats Directive. This ruling comes as no surprise to anyone following the deterioration of our natural environment and has […]
Press Release Irish Wildlife Trust welcomes Irish Government support for Nature Restoration 20th June 2023 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) warmly welcomes the strong endorsement by the EU Council of Ministers today in Luxembourg for the Nature Restoration Law. This throws a lifeline to the initiative which has been subject to a negative campaign led […]
Fair Seas, few whales Pádraic Fogarty 17th of June 2023 The south west-coast of Ireland has been identified by Fair Seas as an area which warrants designation as a Marine Protected Area (MPA). The Irish government has committed to protecting 30% of our territorial waters in MPAs by 2030 and legislation to allow for this […]
Big parties are failing to lead Pádraic Fogarty June 3rd 2023 Biodiversity week came to a close last week with dozens of events around the country celebrating our natural heritage. It’s hard to know if the irony was lost on some politicians that instead of spending time reflecting on our connection with nature they joined […]
Press Release Irish Wildlife Trust calls on the Government to send the Citizens’ Assembly report to an Oireachtas committee to fast-track action for nature 24th May 2023 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is today calling on the Government to ensure the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss are fast-tracked for action. A […]
Bringing back the sturgeon Pádraic Fogarty 21st May 2023 Dublin’s wonderful Natural History Museum has a lot to say about our sea fish. The Victorian cabinets that line the walls of the hall on the ground floor speak to not only the great diversity of marine life that once abounded around our coasts but also […]
Press Release Ireland and UK conservation groups unite to call on the Government to reintroduce the sturgeon – Ireland’s lost ‘dinosaur fish’ 19th May 2023 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) and the Blue Marine Foundation in the UK have jointly published a report, ‘Restoring the Sturgeon to Irish Waters’ urging the Government to examine the […]
Ireland in 2050 Pádraic Fogarty 6th May 2023 2050 is only 27 years away. It’s at the same point in the future as 1996 is in the past, when Hotmail launched on the internet, Mission Impossible, Twister and Independence Day were in cinemas and the ‘Macarena’ was driving people on to, and away from, the […]
People and wildlife and dogs Pádraic Fogarty April 22nd 2023 In the greater scheme of things, owning a dog is probably seen as at the insignificant end of the biodiversity crisis wedge. Owners of harmless-looking lapdogs or lumbering retrievers do not typically see their beloved pets as destroyers of ecosystems. I’m not a dog owner […]
Will the Citizens’ Assembly change anything? Pádraic Fogarty 8th April 2023 This week’s publication of the Citizens’ Assembly report on Biodiversity Loss is a vindicating moment for environmental NGOs. Over the past year, 100 randomly selected citizens were given the task of making comprehensive recommendations on how we can reverse biodiversity loss, even though many […]
Press Release Citizens’ Assembly report on Biodiversity Loss a damning indictment of the State’s failure to protect nature 05th April 2023 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) welcomes the publication today (April 5th 2023) of the final report and recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss. It confirms that the State has abjectly failed […]
Irish Wildlife Trust receives Lord Mayor’s Award in recognition of their work 31st March 2023 The Irish Wildlife Trust is honoured to have received a Lord Mayor’s Award in recognition of our work to help make Dublin a better place to live. Lord Mayor of Dublin Caroline Conroy presented three individuals and three organisations […]
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 Irish Wildlife Trust celebrates rewilding at special event in Longford this weekend 21st March 2023 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) will hold a special event entitled ‘Rewilling for People and Nature’ this Saturday March 25th at the Corlea Trackway Centre in Co. Longford to discuss rewilding and the enormous potential this has for […]
Press Release 15th March 2023 Irish Wildlife Trust calls for urgent action to ban trawling and dredging in inshore waters The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) has written to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, and Minister for Biodiversity and Land Use, Pippa Hackett, urging them to act swiftly to protect inshore […]
The Lawless OPW March 11th 2023 by Pádraic Fogarty Emo Court in County Laois is a splendid example of neo-classical architecture completed in the mid-1800s and set within mature trees and manicured gardens. It was also, until recently, home to a nationally important roost for brown long-eared bats. Emo Court is one of dozens of […]
Press Release 06th March 2023 State failing to stop destruction of “protected” bogs The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is calling for greater law enforcement after new data, released after appeal to the Office of the Information Commissioner, revealed that illegal turf-cutting remains a significant problem in Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) designated for raised […]
Press Release Hill burning season a symptom of political apathy in the face of our biodiversity emergency 02nd March 2023 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 […]
Bringing back lost species February 25th 2023 Ireland’s tattered ecosystems are so far down the path of collapse that most people have got used to the idea that our island is not the place for wild nature that can simply be allowed to look after itself. I am used to hearing that what we have […]
The Nitrates Bomb January 11th 2023 The joke in 2008, in the forestorm of the economic meltdown that resulted in such pain for Ireland went like this: what’s the difference between Iceland and Ireland? One letter and six months. It wasn’t funny then either. Today it could be reframed: what’s the difference between Ireland and […]
The Ashy Mining Solitary Bee What is a Solitary Bee? Solitary bees are much more common in Ireland than bumble or honey bees. They don’t live in big colonies or have a social system with a queen. Where do They Live? They simply make their own nests inn hollow stems or they make tiny […]
General Knowledge on Bees Honeybees can recognize and remember human faces, to them we look like strange flowers. They can build respect and trust with people they remember! Bees are also very capable of showing love and affection. Bees are also self-aware animals, meaning they are aware that they are bees, which not all animals […]
Northern Dark Honey Bee Where do They Live? These honey bees live in hollow trees or inside the rooves of houses. They can be found all across Northern Europe. The strain we have here in Ireland is a native species. A large amount of them also live in manmade bee hives as most of the […]
White-Tailed Bumblebee Where do They Live? These fuzzy friends tend to live in farmlands, fields, a garden, or anywhere where they have access to flowers to feed on. You can find them all across Europe and even Japan. They find old abandoned mice nests to create their own underground nest that can house up […]
What next for Forestry? January 28th 2023 Padraic Fogarty It has been a dramatic week in the history of our long and tortured relationship with trees in Ireland. The protests, the outrage among opposition politicians, the people sending emails to their TDs, even the government ministers admitting things need to change, including the State buying […]
Press Release Irish Wildlife Trust welcomes comments from Tánaiste that the State should buy land for rewilding 24th January 2023 The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) welcomes the comments from Tánaiste Micheál Martin, which were reported in today’s Irish Independent newspaper (24/1/23), that the State “must purchase land for native woodlands and for simple rewilding at […]
Time to remove the deer from the Park January 14th 2023 I have written before about the need for rewilding the Phoenix Park, Dublin’s largest urban green space. I bemoan the intensive level of management by the Office of Public Works which minimises it’s biodiversity value: dead or fallen trees cleared away, poor management of […]
Looking back on 2022 December 30th 2022 Are we turning a corner? Or are we stuck in a dead end? Here’s a round up of what happened, and what didn’t, in 2022. February saw the launch of ‘Fair Seas’, a coalition of groups, including the Irish Wildlife Trust, dedicated to the protection of 30% of […]
