Category Archives for "All News"

PRESS RELEASE 15th February 2022 Irish Wildlife Trust calls for investigation into allegations of unlawful disturbance of protected species by the Office of Public Works (OPW) and the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government   The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is calling for a full investigation into the background of a report in the Irish […]

Speed and Conviction Later this year, June to be precise, will mark the 30th anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit. It was a landmark event in the history of the environmental movement which resulted in the international treaties to end biodiversity loss and limit greenhouse gas emissions that remain the centrepieces of the global response […]

Lessons from Costa Rica by Pádraic Fogarty, January 22nd 2022 Forestry continues to be a vexed issue in Ireland. While the forest owners, nurseries, sawmill owners and timber suppliers are mostly focussed on the immediate issues of getting licences for planting and felling, the bigger, and more important issue is the lack of new forest […]

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 […]

WWF and ‘Origin Green’ ‘Origin Green’, the Bord Bia (and so publicly) funded food marketing programme, started life in 2012. In that time annual greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture (which had been on a downward trajectory) have risen by over 11%, from 19,284 to 21,432 kt CO₂ equivalent. According to the EPA, between their 2012-2014 […]

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 […]

On hen harriers and water quality Two programmes underway to address environmental issues show how change can be achieved, but also the challenge that lies ahead.   Are we addressing the biodiversity emergency? Well, yes and no. There’s no question but that a slew of programmes and measures have been developed in the past five […]

PRESS RELEASE 12th November IWT welcomes acknowledgement of the biodiversity crisis and role of healthy ecosystems, including oceans, in the latest draft COP 26 text   The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) welcomes the prominence of nature in the latest draft of the COP text which appeared in Glasgow today (November 12th). The draft acknowledges in […]

Nature for sale? The COP is entering into its final days. Despite being labelled as a ‘now or never’ moment, the task of meaningfully addressing the climate and biodiversity emergency will remain with us after the delegates head home. No matter what the outcome it is important that momentum is maintained in the days and […]

Last chance? Or no chance? The Irish Wildlife Trust is attending the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. As a first-timer I have been overwhelmed by the enormity of the event. There’s the excitement at witnessing something of such global significance but a disorientation that is only lifting on day 4. World leaders and famous faces […]

Press Release 03rd November   Irish Wildlife Trust welcomes announcement at COP26 to end deforestation – Ireland must move to address its own deforestation problem   The Irish Wildlife Trust, which is attending the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, welcomes yesterday’s announcement by the UK hosts that over 100 countries have signed a pledge to end deforestation […]

Press Release 28th October 2021 As the government heads to the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, new information shows that unlawful turf-cutting remains widespread on Special Areas of Conservation   Data from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and acquired by the Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) under Freedom of Information rules, show that […]

Decolonising conservation The Burren winterage festival just finished up with its annual cattle drive. Now in its 20th year it is a reminder of an ancient tradition of transhumance – the movement of cattle from the lowlands to upland winter grazing pastures. It is this practice that lies at the heart of the ecological diversity […]

Press Release 13th October  Irish Wildlife Trust welcomes restoration of funding to the National Parks and Wildlife Service but much more needs to be done   The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) welcomes the announcement in yesterday’s budget that funding for the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has been restored to 2008 levels. This is […]

COPs – what are they good for? It’s nearly 30 years since world leaders met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Earth Summit. I recently bought a copy of TIME on eBay which anticipated the event with the cover headline ‘Coming Together to Save the Earth’. “What kind of planet will our children inherit? […]

Rewilding Ireland – Where Will be First? Rewilding got a little closer to home this week with the announcement that the Affric Highlands in Scotland are to be added to the Rewilding Europe network. It becomes one of only nine landscape-scale projects (the organisation has many more smaller initiatives which include the Dunsany Estate in […]

IUCN World Congress The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a global organisation that has worked for the protection of biodiversity since its founding in 1948. It is probably best known for producing ‘red lists’ of species which are endangered with extinction. Its latest assessment, published last week to coincide with its […]

Press Release 07th August 2021 Irish Wildlife Trust calls on the Government to back key biodiversity protection measures at the IUCN Congress The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is calling upon the Minister of State for Heritage & Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, on behalf of the Irish government, to use his voting power at the IUCN Congress (currently […]

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 […]

Taking the train I first left the country in 1986, at the age of 12. It was a much-anticipated family sun holiday to Mallorca. Until then every holiday had been to the caravan in Wexford. This was perfectly normal at the time, leaving the country was expensive. But my generation was quick to catch up. […]

Look to the sea The sea has given us everything. The earliest people lived by, and off, the sea, as have generations that followed. The sea brought us our history, from the Viking and Norman invasions to the Martello towers that were built as look-outs for a Napoleonic invasion. The sea took our hopeful and […]

Date July 15th Time 11.30 am – 12.45 pm Location This is a free webinar on the Zoom platform. All are welcome.   Programme 11.30 Opening address by Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan TD 11.40 Panel discussion chaired by Pádraic Fogarty (Irish Wildlife Trust) with Grace Cott, Assistant Professor at University […]

A year in government by Pádraic Fogarty July 3rd 2021 The government recently celebrated a year in office. The IWT supported the Programme for Government (PfG) on the basis that – if implemented – it would set us on a course to addressing the biodiversity emergency. Green Party leader and minister for Transport Eamon Ryan, […]

Expect more Extinction Denial Science denial has a long and inglorious history. In 1615 Galileo Galilei was condemned to house arrest for defending Copernicus’ theory that the earth travelled around the sun and not vice versa. In the 1960s, Rachel Carson, an aquatic biologist working for the US Bureau of Fisheries, came under ferocious attack […]

The Urgency of Rewilding This week saw two important publications that bring the urgent need for rewilding closer to being accepted at a policy level. While rewilding has gained widespread popular support, policy-makers and even many ecologists have remained sceptical. Part of this has been the lack of a widely accepted definition, accompanied by its […]

While dairy is the most profitable sector in farming in Ireland, it increasingly faces environmental questions. What are the options?  by Oliver Moore There has been strong growth in the dairy sector in Ireland because it is, by a distance, the most profitable sector in Irish farming. Even when overall farm incomes are stable or […]

Press Release 13th May Irish Wildlife Trust condemns Taoiseach’s interference in An Taisce case   The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is horrified at the intervention this week by the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, in the case being taken by An Taisce against a proposed cheese factory in Co. Kilkenny. The ungainly remarks have unleashed a cascade […]

No budging the agri-debate It is rather depressing to see just how little the debate on agriculture and eco-action has progressed in recent years. The voices of the farming community, typically the leaders of farming organisations, the farming media and a cohort of rural politicians are sticking with their arguments on carbon leakage (if we […]

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 […]