June 14th, 2016 Campaigners in animal costumes today demonstrated outside the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, in a call for the protection of water and wildlife to be included in the remit of the department. The campaigners were delivering a 14,000 strong petition to Minister Denis Naughten calling for the reinstatement Read more…
June 3rd 2016 Minister Heather Humphreys has relaunched her controversial bill to allow farmers burn scrub and cut hedgerows for longer in the year. Wildlife campaigners say the changes have no scientific backing and will devastate Ireland’s wild bird and mammal populations who live on the margins of farmland. It Read more…
June 2nd 2016 Minister Denis Naughten has told the Dáil this week that the name of his department will be the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. This brings back the title of ‘environment’ to a government department after it was lost when the new ministers were first announced in Read more…
Close to 12,000 people have now singed a petition to ask the Taoiseach Enda Kenny to reinstate the Department of Environment. The petition has been online for less than two weeks after it was started by a number of concerned environmental groups. Friends of the Earth, VOICE, An Taisce, BirdWatch Ireland Read more…
9th May 2016 BirdWatch Ireland is appealing to members of the public to look out for breeding pairs of the highly threatened Curlew this year and to report them to the organisation. The Curlew, with its long legs, large brown body and long, down-curved bill, is one of the most Read more…
Image Credit: Larry Doherty April 28th, 2016 While most people use Sunday mornings to lie in and catch up on sleep, this Sunday people all around the world will be setting their alarms for 5am. As dawn breaks this Sunday, Ireland will join the rest of the world in celebrating International Dawn Read more…
22nd April, 2016 Ireland’s hen harrier numbers have fallen by one third since 2000, a shocking new study has found. Despite serious efforts to protect this incredible and rare species the population has continued to fall. Several factors are to blame for the decline including the intensification of agriculture, dense Read more…
The days may be getting noticeably warmer and the evenings getting longer.
But it is more important this year to remember that the laws around the hedge-cutting season HAVE NOT CHANGED. And it is now illegal to cut hedges until September 1st. Hedges are exceptionally important for wildlife. They are valuable refuges for birds, wildlife, wildflower, shrubs and much more and we must protect these incredible natural resources.
BirdWatch Ireland will shortly begin research to assess the potential impact that offshore renewable energy projects would have on seabirds and coastal water birds. The study precedes a boost in development of Ireland’s indigenous ocean energy industry, after the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland awarded €4.3 million in grants to various groups working in this field.
As part of this project, the organisation will develop a ‘Bird Sensitivity Map’ to inform energy companies of zones that pose a high risk to sea birds and ecosystems.
In an effort to break the silence on the topics of environment and climate change thus far in the general election campaign, Young Friends of the Earth and The Environmental Pillar hosted a hustings at Wynn’s hotel in Dublin, last night. If achieving trending status on twitter is anything to go by, this was certainly achieved and #GE16Environment finally made it onto the agenda.
