A new report on the status of our habitats and species paints a dire picture for Irish biodiversity and stresses the extent of the extinction crisis.

As we move towards autumn, people everywhere are remarking how magnificent trees look this year.

The Irish Wildlife Trust is objecting to a wind farm in Co Longford.

This week, news swept the internet of yet another doomed whale, this time off the coast of Thailand, which is believed to have eaten up to 80 plastic bags weighing 8kg.

ONE of the many ironies of Irish life is that most people — 97%, according to an EU Commission survey — agree we have a responsibility to protect nature. 

The lesson I take from ‘Whittled Away’ is to make this country a hostile environment for politicians of every hue who fail to protect our environment, writes Victoria White

A new book analyses our relationship with the country’s rapidly disappearing natural environment, writes Anne Lucey

A further push to secure an internationally-based biosphere status for Kerry, and Killarney in particular, continues to face objections from a conservation organisation.

DESPITE the downbeat and often valid warnings about the state of the Irish environment and wildlife, lots of positive things are going on, writes Donal Hickey.

The first dry spell of spring over the weekend brought 15 wild fires across Ireland, according to the Irish Wildlife Trust.

The Irish Wildlife Trust has asked the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) to suspend the designation of the Killarney National Park as a world biosphere reserve.

Campaigners are charting wildfires across Ireland this year over fears they threaten to wipe out entire wildlife species.

The Irish Wildlife Trust opposed to calls for a relaxation of scrubland burning restrictions, is seeking a complete ban on the destruction of upland vegetation.

In response to Donal Buckley’s recent opinion piece in the Irish Examiner (Agri-business, April 8) the Irish Wildlife Trust would like to point out that within Ireland’s “abundant fishing grounds” less than half of assessed fish stocks are considered by the Marine Institute to be exploited sustainably.

The Irish Wildlife Trust has said Ireland is lagging behind the rest of Europe by not introducing a ban on fox hunting and hare coursing.

A stunning image of the moment a brightly coloured bird finding food in snow has won a national wildlife photography award.

Animal rights groups have offered rewards totalling up to €7,000 for information leading to the arrest or conviction of those responsible for the deaths of two seals in Kerry.

Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan’s remarks that he wished he had not taken on part of his portfolio have been criticised by a conservation charity.

IRELAND’S small island and inland fishermen are siding with the European Commission and environmentalists against the Government and the big fishing interests at the annual battle for fish quota.

IT’S ironic that a time of a year when new life begins to spring forth, we also have large-scale destruction of natural features of the landscape and wildlife habitat, in Ireland.

ONE of the ironies of life is that, sometimes, those responsible for protecting our environment are the very people that help destroy it.

NOW that the global economy is in freefall it seems reasonable to many that saving the planet should take second place on our Government’s list of priorities.

IN response to your report headlined ‘Council goes bats with taxpayers’ money’ (November 28), it is important for the public to appreciate that spending public money on nature conservation is not a waste of resources.