Pádraic Fogarty
@whittledaway.bsky.social
Rewilding all the way, Ireland
I spoke to Newstalk earlier about what happens when climate breakdown meets degraded ecosystems and how restoring native habitats is keys to fire resilience 🔥 www.newstalk.com/podcasts/cla...
Going Green: Wildfires burning around the globe | Newstalk
With wildfires burning around the globe. We ask what impact is it having on the environment and w...
newstalk.com
Video showing the controversial use of tangle nets, which are implicated in the bycatch of a number of endangered species youtu.be/zCMhPM1hZ9A?...
Hauled One Mile of Nets... Here's What I Caught
YouTube video by Irish Fishing Tales
youtu.be
Important nuance recognised in these two articles relevant to our fire debate: "Abandonment of agricultural systems, unaccompanied by nature restoration, has led to the accumulation of scrub fuel burdens that feed the fires" www.irishtimes.com/opinion/edit...
The Irish Times view on Ireland’s EU presidency: wildfires send a clear message
Without a liveable environment, competitiveness will be an empty aspiration
irishtimes.com
For many years, watching fires devour our hills I wonder: will this be the fire that changes things? www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
‘What was a beautiful habitat now is black soot’: Ireland’s wildfires devastate wildlife
Mammals, small reptiles and amphibians losing shelter and food due to blazes in Tipperary, Wicklow and Waterford
irishtimes.com
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...
Link to podcast I did with @thejournal.ie this week on fires, why the hills are flammable when they should be wet and why we need to get serious about rewilding www.thejournal.ie/podcasts/66f...
Could nature itself help stop Ireland's wildfires?
Read, share and shape the news on TheJournal.ie - Breaking Irish and International News
thejournal.ie
🚨Pearl Mussel Kill on the Owenriff river in Co. Galway! Devastating news shared with us by our member organisation, Carra Mask Corrib Water Protection Group! Much more needs to be done to protect freshwater pearl mussels and the clean, free-flowing rivers on which they depend.
I spoke to @newstalkfm.bsky.social yesterday about fires, land use and the urgent need for native forests on our hills www.newstalk.com/podcasts/hig...
What needs to be done to prevent future wildfires? | Newstalk
A wildfire on Slievenamon in Co Tipperary has "reduced significantly", according to Tipperary Cou...
newstalk.com
Fires in Slievenamon, Connemara and Killarney show our hills are on life support - @whittledaway.bsky.social www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Fires in Slievenamon, Connemara and Killarney show our hills are on life support
We should invest in mountains like we invest in schools, roads and hospitals, and acknowledge Slievenamon, along with all other hills, has been sick for some time and needs help if it is going to reco...
irishexaminer.com
Even before last week's fire, Slievenamon was a sick and neglected mountain. If it is to recover, it will need investment and rehabilitation. My story for today's @irishexaminer.bsky.social www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Fires in Slievenamon, Connemara and Killarney show our hills are on life support
We should invest in mountains like we invest in schools, roads and hospitals, and acknowledge Slievenamon, along with all other hills, has been sick for some time and needs help if it is going to reco...
irishexaminer.com
Ireland's fire laws are "30 years" out of date, warns ecologist @whittledaway.bsky.social. He says more forest fires are inevitable unless land use changes - noting while native Irish forests aren't flammable, "we've cleared out nearly all" of them from hills youtu.be/p5r6u07Z4jI
Irish laws around starting fires stuck '30 years' in the past - Ecologist | RTÉ News
YouTube video by RTÉ News
youtu.be
I was on the radio this morning talking about the urgent need to get native forests back onto the hills www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...
How prepared is Ireland for future forest fires?
Ecologist & Author, Pádraic Fogarty on what needs to be done to further tackle wildfires in Ireland.
rte.ie
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!
NEW INVESTIGATION: Despite escaping the 'mega fires' seen in countries such as Spain and Greece, Ireland actually has one of Europe’s highest rates of wildfire overlap with protected nature sites, we can reveal
Ireland has one of Europe’s highest rates of wildfire overlap with protected nature sites
Following a spate of devastating wildfires, analysis has found that more than half of the land burned here over the past decade overlapped with protected nature areas – significantly higher than the...
jrnl.ie
Fire crews had brought the Slievenamon blaze largely under control until, on Wednesday, a sharp change in wind saw the flames pushed towards a nearby Coillte forest. It’s had some asking if the type of tree planted on the mountain made this week's wildfires worse www.thejournal.ie/slievenamon-...
Has the type of tree planted on Slievenamon made this week's wildfires worse?
Sitka spruce, which originates in North America, is a staple of Coillte forests, but has long been criticised by environmentalists.
thejournal.ie
A red flag in the recently published draft law for Marine Protected Areas is the veto power given to the Department of Agriculture. It's vital that this is resolved if we're not to end up with yet more paper parks. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ou...
Uneasy sea-bedfellows: Oceans of conflict around fishing and conservation
A major impediment to fishermen effectively becoming guardians of the seas and leading on restoration efforts is the complex manner in which the sea is managed
irishexaminer.com
Conifer monocultures exacerbate fire risk but the foretry industry has strongly resisted efforts at reform. Native forests would not burn like this because they are not flammable. jrnl.ie/7112037
Has the type of tree planted on Slievenamon made this week's wildfires worse?
Sitka spruce, which originates in North America, is a staple of Coillte forests, but has long been criticised by environmentalists.
jrnl.ie
Has the type of tree planted on Slievenamon made this week's wildfires worse? Coillte insists its Sitka spruce species has no bearing on the spread of wildfires, but an ecologist has questioned whether the trees are more flammable in hotter, drier weather. www.thejournal.ie/slievenamon-...
Has the type of tree planted on Slievenamon made this week's wildfires worse?
Sitka spruce, which originates in North America, is a staple of Coillte forests, but has long been criticised by environmentalists.
thejournal.ie
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...
Not a lot of detail here but it's good news if there is indeed progress on legislation for National Parks. This was first promised in 2002, 24 years ago! www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
Cabinet to consider law to fine people who use disposable barbecues in national parks
Proposal comes after wildfire, suspected to have been caused by disposable barbecue, destroyed 20 hectares of Killarney National Park
irishtimes.com
Fantastic news for lynx in Sain! www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2...
Iberian lynx snapped in Basque Country after 100 year absence
A farmer's camera trap set up to watch wildlife visiting his land in Campezo, Alava, caught the radio-collared cat, thought to have travelled from the south.
theolivepress.es
Well done to the National Parks and Wildlife Service staff for securing this conviction against someone who power-hosed 57 house martin nests off a house wall to 'clean it up' for a sales viewing www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/crime-c...
Man and woman in court after 57 nests ‘blasted’ off Laois house
The woman who works for an estate agent directed the man to clean the house
leinsterexpress.ie
"A new report confirms that over one-third of wild Atlantic salmon populations in Ireland [which are essentially collapsed] now carry genetic material from escaped farmed fish, raising urgent concerns over the long-term survival of the iconic species" oceanographicmagazine.com/news/one-thi...
One-third of wild Irish Atlantic salmon carry farmed fish genetics
Scientists say the mixing of genes could ‘seriously hamper’ Atlantic salmon’s capacity to adapt to global warming
oceanographicmagazine.com
Silent but violent, cows' and other farm animals' farts (agricultural methane) heat the planet 80 times more than CO2 over a 20-year time frame But Ireland wants the EU to give cow farts a free pass, raising serious questions about its claim to be a climate leader www.desmog.com/2026/07/14/c...
Can Ireland Deliver as ‘Honest Broker’? Here’s What’s at Stake for Climate and Nature in EU Council Presidency
Environmental campaigners are urging Ireland to protect the public interest and resist industry pressure as the country takes up the presidency of the EU Council. The EU’s top agricultural polluter to...
desmog.com
This is why we can't have rich ecosystems and safe food. The farm lobby threatens us all. www.grilled.media/inside-copa-...
Inside Big Ag’s plot to kill the EU Green Deal
Documents from inside Europe's most powerful farming lobby reveal plans to block efforts to cut pesticide use and reduce factory farm pollution
grilled.media
This story is from 2021 and we're now dealing with another major fire in the Killarney National Park. What has changed in 5 years? The main thing is that staff are much better equipped to deal with fires and perhaps the result is that the impact of this fire... www.irishtimes.com/news/environ...
Emergency services tackle huge fire in Killarney National Park
Blaze fanned by strong breeze appears to have destroyed oakwoods at Eagles Nest
irishtimes.com
Another recent Science & Climate page in @irishtimes.com had @whittledaway.bsky.social report on the slow and complex official response to the fast declining hen harrier population.... www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
Embattled hen harrier clings on - but its future is far from certain
Once-common bird of prey is at the centre of tensions over land use for farming and forestry
irishtimes.com
Up is down; black is white; and habitat destruction doesn't hurt endangered species.
Trump rule says habitat destruction does not harm endangered species
A new rule rescinds the definition of what it means to “harm” a plant or animal under the Endangered Species Act and could lead to more habitat destruction.
washingtonpost.com