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 […]
30×30: the new colonialism? Or the only way to save life on Earth? In 2016 the eminent, Harvard-based biologist Edward O. Wilson, made a radical proposal for the protection of the Earth’s biodiversity. Known as ‘Half Earth’, it is “a call to protect half the land and sea in order to manage sufficient habitat to […]
PRESS RELEASE 11 January 2021 Irish Wildlife Trust welcomes Government commitment to ‘High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People’ at today’s One Planet Summit The One Planet Summit, which takes place today at the initiative of French president Emmanuel Macron and which will be attended (virtually) by Malcolm Noonan, Minister of State for Heritage and […]
What to expect for 2021 2020 had been billed as a ‘super year’ for climate and biodiversity issues and, in a way, it was, but not like anyone could have imagined. Major conferences on climate, oceans and a ‘new deal for nature’ were all postponed due to Covid-19. A major, but under-reported, report from July […]
The Case for Beavers in Ireland I have been agog these last few years watching in envy as beavers have popped up across Britain. Having gone extinct in the 1600’s these famously industrious rodents are now back to work at Knapdale Forest in Scotland as well as ten sites in England in which they are […]
What’s the point of industrial fishing? The prominence of Brexit in the media was eclipsed this year by the Covid-19 health emergency but it has re-emerged in recent weeks due to the failure of the EU and UK to negotiate a future trading agreement. One of the sticking points has been fishing, an area that […]
Reform of the NPWS is urgent “We desperately need new thinking, new concepts, new contexts, new teaching methods, new curricula, better communication between all the participants in nature conservation. If we had a new and vitalised education programme, half the battle would already be won.” David Cabot, then a scientist for An Foras Forbhatha (and […]
Press Release 12th November 2020 New information shows that unlawful turf-cutting remains widespread on Special Areas of Conservation Data from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (DCHG), and acquired by the Irish Wildlife Trust under Access to Information on the Environment rules, shows that mechanical turf-cutting continues to be a widespread issue on […]
Rewilding the Park There’s a corner of the Phoenix Park, Dublin’s largest open space, that hints at wildness. It’s different from the rest of the Park in that it’s less manicured, messy looking, with unmown meadows and patches of scrubby thorn bushes. Most people walk right past it but within its tangled undergrowth there are […]
Corrosive power relations, not farmers, are killing the planet Feeding the world while bringing food systems back within nature’s limits is the challenge of the century. But farmers are mostly low wage workers and worry that greater environmental expectations will mean a further squeeze on their income. Is it possible for them to be green […]
Press Release 15th October Budget marks a significant change in direction in the state’s approach to nature protection The Irish Wildlife Trust has welcomed this week’s announcements in the budget which will start to address our biodiversity crisis. New funding announcements have been made across a range of sectors which will address historic shortfalls, most […]
Nature-based solutions This week saw a significant milestone in Ireland’s tortuous journey from climate laggard to climate leader with the publication of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill. It is a significant achievement for the Green Party in particular, which delivered on its promise to deliver the bill within the first 100 […]
PRESS RELEASE 09th October 2020 Irish Wildlife Trust calls for moratorium on all trawling within six nautical miles of the coast following High Court ruling Following the High Court ruling [i] that has overturned a decision to prohibit trawling by larger boats within 6 nautical miles of the coast, the IWT has written to Minister […]
September 22nd 2020 Irish Wildlife Trust submission to Budget 2020 Dear Minister Donohoe, 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 would like to make a submission for […]
Press Release 01st October 2020 IWT calls on Minister O’Brien to take urgent measures to prevent destruction of protected marine habitats The Irish Wildlife Trust has released a report which highlights Ireland’s failure to manage and successfully protect the inshore network of marine protected areas (MPAs) [i]. Collating evidence from surveys conducted by the National […]
The left is right The emergence of a ‘left-green’ conversation in Ireland seems to have gone unnoticed in the mainstream media. Its most notable figures inside the Oireachtas are Neasa Hourigan, Green Party TD for Dublin Central, Bríd Smith in People Before Profit, Alice-Mary Higgins (Ind) and Lynn Boylan of Sinn Féin. The Social Democrats, […]
PRESS RELEASE 25th September 2020 Fix the problems in forestry before silencing objectors The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is extremely concerned about the undue haste with which new forestry legislation is being rushed through the Oireachtas. This legislation proposes to introduce fees for objectors for the first time and was part of a broader set […]
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 […]
Pádraic’s Blog: The Hardest Animal to Live With Bringing wolves back to Ireland has many supporters but for many it is all just a stretch too far. The conflict would be fierce and fraught, at least if current attitudes to nature are anything to go by. Can’t we just manage what we have? Why would […]
Object to proposed changes to the Agriculture Bill 2020 limiting people’s ability to appeal. Minister of State for Agriculture Pippa Hackett has announced a consultation on the outline of the Draft Agriculture Appeals (Amendment) Bill 2020. This bill proposes significant changes and limitations to the appeal system for Forestry Licences. The IWT is calling on […]
In search of the real A couple of years back I attended a conference on ‘Natural Capital’ in the National Concert Hall in Dublin. Natural Capital is a way of bringing nature into national economic accounting structures in order to value what are termed ‘ecosystem services’ – i.e. the things that keep us alive like […]
Press Release 07th August Irish Wildlife Trust call on UNESCO to remove ‘Biosphere’ label from Killarney as Kerry County Council withdraws support The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) has written to the UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) committee calling on them to immediately remove Killarney from its list of ‘Biosphere Reserves’. The call follows the revelation, […]
Press Release 04th August PRESS RELEASE: Irish Wildlife Trust calls on Minister Malcolm Noonan not to issue licences for cruel hare coursing The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is calling on Minister at the Department of Housing Malcolm Noonan not to issue licences for hare coursing. The IWT would like to see hare coursing banned as […]
Golden Plovers, sheep, peat and ‘Hurling from the Ditch’ Last week the IWT issued a press release calling for sheep to be removed from hills as an emergency measure to allow for the recovery of damaged peatlands, particularly blanket bogs. It followed the publication of a report from the National Parks and Wildlife Service which […]
Environmental NGO Coastwatch Secures Win for Nature in Razor Shell Fisheries Court Case The Irish Wildlife Trust and the Bigger & Better MPA campaign strongly welcome fantastic news for nature in Ireland after Coastwatch secures and important win in Razor Shell Fisheries Court Case. In November 2019, a razor shell dredge fishery was opened illegally […]
Press Release 21st July Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) calls for sheep to be taken off the hills to allow restoration of upland and peatland ecosystems IWT is calling on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Dara Calleary, Minister for Land Use and Biodiversity Pippa Hackett and Minister at the Department of Housing Malcolm […]
Press Release 01/07/2020 Disbelief as Green ministers hand nature protection to Housing Department BirdWatch Ireland, Irish Wildlife Trust, Friends of the Earth, An Taisce, SWAN and the Environmental Pillar make joint call to #BringNatureHome Leading environmental NGOs have expressed disbelief at the new Government’s proposal to move responsibility for nature to the Department of Housing. […]
Press Release 16th June The Irish Wildlife Trust welcomes the Programme for Government as potentially transformative for the Irish landscape. The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is welcoming the Programme for Government (PfG) presented by Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and Fine Gael as containing a number of elements which are potentially transformative in addressing […]
Press Release 12th June 2020 The Irish Wildlife Trust is inviting submissions for a Wild Oceans Photography Competition In honour of World Oceans Day this June and to coincide with the easing of travel restrictions, the Irish Wildlife Trust have launched a marine themed photography contest. The aim of this competition is to raise awareness […]
Press Release 20th May 2020 Irish Wildlife Trust welcomes EU Biodiversity Strategy but we must move quickly to implementation. The IWT welcomes the publication of the EU’s 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and Farm to Fork plan which set ambitious targets for the restoration of nature across the continent. If implemented it would see a transformation of […]
