Biodiversity

How the Dingle Peninsula 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

Wild salmon are on the brink of disappearing from Irish waters

Only ‘urgent and transformative’ action can save them

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

How plans for new Guggenheim museum have triggered major biodiversity row in Spain

Proposed Guggenheim development in Guernica faces opposition over ecological concerns

Illegal peat harvesting is still taking place on a large scale, EPA report finds

Local authority enforcement is ‘patently inadequate’, with equipment and warehouses on some sites

Scanning the air for life

A new study combined air samples with deep sequencing methods to recover detailed information on the genetic code of animals, plants, humans and microbes in the environment

Fending off coastal erosion: one Co Kerry community’s story

Having the right approach to local engagement is a key part of protecting the unique ecosystem of the Maharees

We can’t afford to let the climate crisis get swallowed up in the culture wars

As the ambition to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees slips away from us, we’re like a team going to the second half of a match 3-1 down. But there is one thing in our favour

Restoring biodiversity on the Yangtze river: ‘You have to do some balancing and make some difficult choices’

Home to several rare species and the world’s largest hydroelectric power station, protecting human life and biodiversity on the Yangtze river is a difficult balancing act

How yellow rattle can inject new life into Ireland’s green spaces

Yellow rattle can help restore wildflowers and reverse the declines in our bee and butterfly populations

Ireland’s Greenest Places: From Dún Laoghaire’s active travel to Kiltimagh’s biodiversity park - some of the entries so far

Competition an invitation to groups and communities to get recognition for their environmental endeavours

World on verge of ratifying key treaty to protect oceans

Failure to significantly scale up protection of oceans from deep sea mining and sea beds from 'bottom trawling' was widely criticised

What do aliens look like - a crab or an octopus?

When imagining extraterrestrials, our minds often leap to little green men or sci-fi monsters. But these two familiar animals are a better fit

Ireland to ratify high seas treaty and scale-up marine-protected areas, Taoiseach tells UN summit

UN secretary general António Guterres urges world leaders to move ‘from plundering to protection’

UN Ocean Conference 3: will it lead to protecting the high seas from all extraction, forever?

Climate change is reducing productivity of the high seas through warming and depletion of nutrients and oxygen

Ireland’s plan to weaken legal protections for waterways will push many of them beyond recovery

Ella McSweeney: The Department of Housing is proposing to give up trying to restore or naturalise many of our rivers

Extinction of nature’s giants tracks human expansion across the globe

Due to their size and abundance, these creatures shaped the ecosystems in which they lived – but today all are nearly gone

Climate change adds to Syria’s problems as Damask rose harvests fade

Syria’s harvest has shrunk as a result of climate change-related drought, further complicating the country’s economic recovery

Communications, transport and health of older people at increased risk from global warming, says EPA

Storms Éowyn and Darragh highlighted vulnerabilities, with widespread disruptions to power and water

Why are Ireland’s whales disappearing?

Whales are disappearing from Ireland’s southwest coasts, as trawlers take much of their food

Ireland’s remaining bogs can have a second tale - of creation rather than extraction

Unlike trees, a living, healthy bog will soak up more carbon per square metre than almost any other ecosystem on Earth

What are Ireland’s Greenest Places in 2025? Share the places you feel are contributing to a better environment

We are asking readers to nominate the places across Ireland they believe deserve to be acknowledged

World lost a record amount of forests in 2024 as fires raged

World lost equivalent of 18 soccer fields of forested land every minute

Students from UCD and TCD are joint winners of 2025 Mary Mulvihill science media competition

Deeply personal essay on the use of animals in biological research and biodiversity game announced as winners

What do changing rainfall patterns mean for the world’s nourishing grasslands?

Breakfast porridge, our daily bread and rice sustaining more than half of the world’s population are all bred from natural grasses

Spider venom could aid future drug discovery, say Galway researchers

New study finds that spider venom is ‘prey-specific’

Irish hares are unique but the law of the land is against them

Ireland is one of the last remaining countries in Europe where these mystical creatures can be legally chased by dogs

Live near a town? Got food or smelly shoes? Foxes and badgers may pay you a visit

Eanna Ní Lamhna on how to handle moths that want to make a meal of the food in your kitchen, the mice at risk from your lawnmower, and a bee-bashing bird

How can businesses change their business model to support biodiversity?

Climate crisis requires bigger efforts from business

Ireland needs multi-functional farms with biodiversity benefits. But how can they be supported?

Calls grow for farming supports to help landowners push ahead with national climate goals

How nature took the lead in the return of the crane to Ireland

Cranes were culturally significant in Ireland, kept as pets by nobility and may have been associated in folklore with death

Art can communicate messages about our dying planet that are otherwise hard to hear

Climate change: Art is humanity’s oldest companion and, as we ignore a crisis that threatens both, can be a powerful means of expression

Cornish hedges are works of art, with abundant nature providing the painterly flourishes

Two layers of stone filled inside with compacted earth and topped off with vegetation or turf, these are irresistible places for plants and animals to live

Garden chemicals can seem like a magic wand. But this is the lesson I’ve learned

It’s liberating to accept that you’re never going to be master of your own garden, and this isn’t a failing

Ireland has a dismal amount of tree cover but ‘wild’ is partly between our ears

A Polish forest gives a glimpse of what Ireland and Britain might have looked like 10,000 years ago

Shellfish dredging wiping out key carbon-catching seagrass meadows, Coastwatch warns

Environmental group calls for increase in shellfish diving and ban on ‘licensed damage’ after destruction in Co Mayo

Beautifully sonorous blackcaps have discovered the key to a comfortable life

Ella McSweeney: These astonishingly small creatures are an example of a species thriving in a world that is changing faster than ever

In search of the Congolese corncrake 

Our mission: To discover whether this small migratory bird was faring any better in its (probable) winter home

My quest to see kingfishers helped me discover the river Dodder’s amazing diversity of wildlife

Photographing one of these unforgettable birds on a Dublin river led me on journey of reconnection with the natural world

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