Upland forest and bog in Norway: essentially the same species found at home and not flammable!

The IFA must surely know there is no future in this policy which has already resulted in so much damage www.farmersjournal.ie/sheep/news/r...

Was at @irishrainforest.bsky.social's beautiful documentary tonight, highly recommend! Check out the trailer here vimeo.com/1211649058/7...

Great work today with volunteers from Galway Beach Cleaners, we removed nearly 900kg of rubbish from this short stretch of coast!

Interesting to compare with stats from the European Forest Fires Info Service - which only counts fires >30ha

I'm really thrilled to see this development (coming 24 years since the commitment was first made). We finally will have a chance to put in law that National Parks are primarily for nature! www.gov.ie/en/departmen...

Another one bites the dust as new advice from @icesmarine.bsky.social for plaice in the Irish Sea is that fishing for it should stop entirely - advice which will be ignored as it has been for other species. Another casualty of destructive bottom trawling.

Nice work from @dlrcc.bsky.social on Dalkey Island where there is clear signage and protection of ground nesting birds. Everyone gets to enjoy this beautiful place in peace!

Please help a researcher with her degree by filling out this short anonymous survey on ocean literacy 👇 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Two years since I was last in Glenveagh National Park and there are clear signs that a reduction in deer numbers is effective in restoring and expanding the native, fantastic to see!

At the @fairseas.ie conference this morning we heard from minister Timmy Dooley and the taoiseach Micheál Martin about the need for Marine Protected Areas... but very disappointing to get no clarity on timelines for the long-delayed law #worldoceanday

Déjà-vu outside the Dáil today as we demand action on Marine Protected Areas... 5 years after a similar rally. Will we be back in 2031? Yes if we have to! @irishwildlifetrust.bsky.social @fairseas.ie 🐟

Over 10,000km2 of seabed in Irish 'marine protected areas' are subjected to bottom trawling. Greece and Sweden have committed to ending bottom trawling in MPAs by the 2030, in line with EU strategy. However, the Irish government has said it has no intention of restricting the practice...

Irish boats are trawling in the North Sea, the English Channel and even north of Spain and Portugal. They are responsible for half of the trawling in Irish waters, with the remainder mostly boats from France, UK and Spain...

Valuable new research shows the impact of the 120 Irish fishing boats that practice bottom trawling in European waters. These boats spent 160,000 hours dragging nets along the seafloor releasing 3.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

It's clear that pulling a National Park out of thin air with no staff, no resources, no consultation and no plan was a mistake. Nothing has changed on the ground. NPWS and minister O'Sullivan need to sort things out.

Wrapping up two talks in Dingle about Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara which was 'declared' two years ago. It's was nice to talk openly and honestly about the challenges and opportunities for this area...

Minister Christopher O'Sullivan says that Ireland's nature restoration plan will be funded... "no doubt about that", and that "now is the time for action". Fine words but there's still no clear path for funding

It was very nice to welcome Rewilding Europe back to Ireland to talk about the potential for landscape and seascape scale rewilding

I'll be in Dingle over the May Bank Holiday weekend for two talks related to Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara as part of Féile na Bealtaine

This is from the latest @epaireland.bsky.social report showing that, in reality, not much is changing at all www.epa.ie/publications...

We often hear from the farm orgs that great change is happening and measures to improve water quality just need time to take effect. But the rivers don't lie

However, despite being a commitment since 2002, work has not yet even started on drafting legislation. We also still don't have management plans for existing National Parks. It's good that the State wants to buy land for nature, but it still has not proved that it can manage the land it has

I took this photo from the shore near Copenhagen last summer - I was surprised at how the turbines are barely visible even on a bright day

There seems to be a blindness to what has been done to the hills. The places in these photos are part of a 'Special Area of Conservation' and are acknowledged to be in terrible condition and yet nothing is done, even when downstream flooding affects people's lives

In fact, inshore fishermen are now lobbying for a basic payment scheme so they can stay on their boats but participate in conservation projects (from the latest @marinetimes.bsky.social )

Positive response in the Dáil yesterday from the taoiseach following Q on tangle nets from Jennifer Whitmore. Action must follow!

Great panel discussion at the @social-democrats.bsky.social national conference on rewilding the sea. Thank you to TD Jennifer Whitmore and Cllr Joan Hopkins for the invitation 🐟

Here is the map. Looks like the Barrow is a right off

The @irishexaminer.bsky.social view on tangle netting: "a shameful matter that needs to be addressed urgently" www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/ourv...