Biodiversity

Mink eradication scheme being piloted in Midlands in first step towards eliminating invasive species

Volunteers to be professionally trained in trapping mink and ‘humane dispatch’

Colonialism still a puppet master of today’s extinction crisis

Decolonising entrenched patterns of power and thinking needed as part of response to environmental nightmare

Irish Government to ratify landmark UN high seas treaty

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s first peatland strategy launched in ‘turning point’ for peatland conservation

Surge in Irish corncrake numbers and in breeding territories, survey shows

Farming community key to success in recovery of bird threatened with local extinction

Ireland’s Greenest Places winners set to be announced

Competition found numerous examples of environmental enhancement in urban and rural locations

Marine protection delays makes ocean restoration more uncertain, warn environment groups

‘Budget 2026 is key test for Government’s commitment to Ireland’s seas’ and promise to scale-up MPAs

A plague is wiping out white-clawed crayfish in a river near Limerick city

Ireland is regarded as the last stronghold of this species, but locals have found hundreds of dead crayfish in the river Maigue

The Lie of the Land by John Gibbons and Positive Tipping Points by Tim Lenton: Engaging, detailed, terrifying

Much more than a roasting of those who have sought to deny or delay action on climate and the environment

Further sightings of Asian hornets in Cork and Dublin confirmed

Further sightings of the invasive species confirmed in Cobh, Co Cork, and Inchicore in Dublin

The Irish Times Greenest Places shortlist revealed

These 14 nominees show concrete evidence of widespread action on climate and sustainability goals

Asian hornets in Ireland would be ‘a disaster’ for bees and biodiversity, expert says

Nest found in Cork city after sighting earlier this month, with beekeepers and officials on high alert

Dark reality behind Ireland’s bumper butterfly season

Butterfly sightings are up 83% this year, but that follows a steep decline as the habitats that are vital for Ireland’s insects are deteriorating or simply unavailable

Thousands of dolphins may be dying off west coast of Ireland every year, ‘and nothing is being done’

Undersea cameraman Ken O’Sullivan has spent 20 years among the charismatic mammals

Changing the conversation on Ireland’s Natura 2000 sites

‘If you live in a very special place, that should be a good thing and not a bad thing’

A daisy with a doctorate? Frank McNally on the enrolment of ragwort in the rewilded lawns of Trinity College

Who knows how ragwort will evolve with the benefit of a few years in university? It might lose the latter part of its name, Jacobaea vulgaris, for a start

Asian hornet spotted in Cork a ‘significant threat to biodiversity’, says wildlife service

Public urged to be ‘vigilant’ and report any sightings of the hornet, which endangers native pollinators

Two endangered red panda cubs born at Cork’s Fota Wildlife Park

Public invited to suggest names for the newborn red panda cubs

Revealed: Ireland’s Greenest Places 2025 long list

Nominee places range from the shadows of Croagh Patrick to a once derelict dump site in Dublin’s Liberties

Could bouncing the sun’s heat back into space help solve the climate crisis?

‘If something can shave off just half a degree, that means millions fewer impacted by heatwaves, crop failures or flooding’

We all need to consume less if we are to save our environment from catastrophe

Consider how you can reuse, repair and rent rather than always buying new products

Ireland’s nature lovers on their favourite trees: ‘I felt I could talk to it, like going to a good therapist’

Connecting with woodland can have a profound influence on our lives

Whales in Irish waters face a new threat

The sprat needed to feed whales are at risk of extinction because of overfishing

Ireland’s ‘hotbed’ for whales who have migrated from southern waters

Same whales spotted off Cork and Kerry 20 years ago now popping up in Donegal Bay, says sea life charity

Pine martens: One of Ireland’s rarest wildlife species in recovery

Shrinking woodland, persecution and poison at the start of the 20th century led to its near extinction

Paschal Donohoe on books that advise how to run our economies and save the planet

The Minister for Finance on Nature Capital: The Value of the World Around Us by Partha Dasgupta and Slow Down or Die: The Economics of Degrowth by Timothée Parrique, translated by Claire Benoit

Mapping the hidden black gold that is peat soil

The maps we use have profound implications for calculating greenhouse gas emissions from our land sector

Most farmers could earn more money by planting trees - why don’t they?

Tree planting in Ireland is at its lowest level since 1946 despite grants and premiums

Ban on inshore fishing of sprat to protect whales, birdlife and other sea mammals

Cabinet approves ‘actions to safeguard Ireland’s marine biodiversity and coastal communities’

Ireland’s only protected insect the marsh fritillary to star in new comic championing cause of insects

‘The bee gets the glory. The wasp gets the swat. I work so hard at pest control and pollination all day long and what thanks do I get?’

Ireland needs ‘future generations tsar’ to enable long-term thinking, say 70 groups

Legislation is back on the Dáil agenda to support government decision-making in the interests of future generations

Amazon remains in great peril and should top Cop30 agenda

‘If we don’t reduce carbon from fossil fuel emissions, the forest will be destroyed anyway’

Calling all ladybird spotters: help fill in the picture on these charismatic little bugs

Data on the species in the Republic is spotty, but that’s about to change

Ireland’s Greenest Places 2025 competition: 40 shades of green initiatives

From urban community gardens and ambitious rural tree-planting to sustainability initiatives involving whole towns, the chase is on for this year’s bragging rights

‘Beautiful, crisp and clear’: Winning pictures in Biodiversity Photographer of the Year contest are announced

Image of dragonfly in Meath takes top prize in competition aimed at celebrating photography and wildlife diversity

Ash dieback: It’s hard to ignore the lines of dead and dying trees around Ireland

I am optimistic that nature will find a way around this as it has done with many other plant pathogens

Report condemns decline of Ireland’s largest saltwater lake over 40 years

Oireachtas committee calls for full restoration of heavily polluted Lady’s Island Lake in Co Wexford

How coastal community is modelling a new way for rural Ireland to thrive

Kerry community is embracing innovation with mix of local energy projects, nature-positive farming and sustainable tourism

Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Paramount+: 10 of the best new shows to stream in July

Including Ballard, Foundation, Dexter: Resurrection and The Summer I Turned Pretty

Eye on Nature: If bees can’t see red, why is one drawn to this red poppy?

Éanna Ní Lamhna on the colourful bumblebee, declining linnets, and coots in UCD

Wild salmon are on the brink of disappearing from Irish waters

Only ‘urgent and transformative’ action can save them

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