Get closer to the wild side of Ireland
The recent “State of Nature” report published in the UK highlights the staggering and shocking decline of some of our nearest neighbour’s most iconic wildlife species. The figures from the report — compiled by 25 of the UK’s top wildlife organisations — make for a sobering read. 60% of the species surveyed have declined over recent [...]
An area covering more than 11,000 hectares of the Nephin Beg range in North West Mayo has been designated as an official “Wilderness Area” following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Coillte (the Irish forestry service) and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The document commits both parties to work [...]
Why is it that we’re so ready to lay the blame at nature’s door when things go awry in the countryside? There are plenty of examples out there. Bovine TB is perhaps the biggest that springs to mind at the moment. It’s a dreadful disease in cattle that has serious implications for dairy farmers, their [...]
Mark Avery has been fighting for birds for most of his adult life. As Conservation Director with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Europe’s largest conservation NGO, Mark has been at the forefront of some of the most iconic conservation issues to emerge over recent decades. Naturally the book has a UK [...]
On the 21st anniversary of the declaration of Irish waters as Europe’s first Whale and Dolphin sanctuary, The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has announced a campaign to extend that status to all European waters. On 07 June 1991 then Taoiseach Charles Haughey declared Ireland a Whale and Dolphin Sanctuary in recognition of the [...]
The final countdown is on for Ireland’s island wide BioBlitz 2012, with four sites across the island competing for Ireland’s biodiversity crown. Killarney National Park took the title last year, and I’m off to Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve in West cork later today to do whatever I can to help bring the title back down [...]
The preservation of our wild places and the plants and animals that call them home should be high on the priority list of any responsible government. That’s partly because we have a duty of care to maintain our stunning natural heritage for future generations; but it’s more fundamental than that: looking after our biodiversity, maintaining [...]
A new initiative to help authorities make informed decisions about landscape conservation for Ireland’s bat species was launched in Dublin earlier this week by Dr Liam Lysaght, director of the National Biodiversity Data Centre (NBDC). A joint project by Bat Conservation Ireland (BCI) and the Centre for Irish Bat Research (CIBR), the “‘Landscape Conservation for [...]
Found this great site dedicated to the conservation of Irish habitats and protected species thanks to Kathleen Lynch on the Ireland’s Wildlife page on Facebook. It features a database of Ireland’s protected species, including information on the legal status relating to their protection, the habitat types they’re found in, and the relevant habitat protection designation [...]
A panel of 27 marine experts from 18 organisations spanning 6 countries has come to a stark conclusion about the health of our oceans. According to a preliminary report issued this week by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) based on current trends we are on the verge of a “phase [...]
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