Videos

The ForES team has produced the brief introductory video which features Kathleen Conroy, PhD Candidate at Trinity College Dublin, explaining how the project, working at specific Coillte forest sites around Ireland, will: - Develop natural capital accounts for forest sites that will capture information on stocks (amount, location and condition of forest habitats), and the flows of their ecosystem services - Consider the multiple values of forests in addition to commercial timber production, such as carbon sequestration, water retention, biodiversity and recreation, applying a holistic approach to ensure nature’s many values are considered in decision-making - Develop a web-based interactive tool to enable data-driven decision-making for all forest managers and landowners. The ForES ('For Ecosystem Services') project is backed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and led by natural scientists at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and University College Dublin (UCD) and will use the Bayesian Belief Network method to model forest management scenarios. Please share this video on social media using #ForESproject ​Visit the project website at www.for-es.ie For queries, contact info@naturalcapitalireland.com

Co-founder of Natural Capital Ireland Professor Jane C. Stout provides a slideshow introduction to natural capital concepts and how not-for-profit organisation Natural Capital Ireland is advocating for natural capital accounting systems such as the System of Environmental Economic Accounting - Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) to be integrated into national accounts in order to value, protect and restore Ireland’s natural capital & ecosystem services. Visit www.naturalcapitalireland.com for more information.

Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan TD announces a new biodiversity conference that will mark a key milestone in the development of Ireland’s Fourth National Biodiversity Action Plan The next National Biodiversity Conference will be held at Dublin Castle on June 8-9, 2022 and livestreamed. The event will see national and international experts come together under the theme ‘Act Now for Nature’. The conference forms part of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s public consultation on Ireland’s fourth National Biodiversity Action Plan, which will be implemented over a period of five years. The event is hosted by Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage & National Parks & Wildlife Service, facilitated by Natural Capital Ireland (www.naturalcapitalireland.com) #Biodcon22 #Biodplan22 #ActNow #ForNature See https://www.biodiversityconference.ie/

The Peatlands Gathering event was held online on October 7 & 8th, 2021, and welcomed all who are interested in peatlands to a series of presentations and discussions. Organised by a collective of groups & individuals and hosted by Natural Capital Ireland, the aim of the Gathering was to share knowledge and to cultivate a new beginning for peatlands in Ireland and beyond, promoting dialogue about peatlands and their future, with key messages from the Gathering to be presented at the COP26 meeting on Climate Change in Glasgow in November 2021. The event rounded off with a panel discussion chaired by journalist Ella McSweeney, (Notes taker: Pat Fitzgerald, Irish Peatland Society) with: Pippa Hackett, Minister of State for Land Use & Biodiversity, Dept of Agriculture, Food & the Marine Andy Bleasdale, National Parks and Wildlife Service Andrew Jackson, University College Dublin Alan Matthews, Trinity College Dublin ​Geraldine O'Sullivan Irish Farmers’ Association ​Nuala Madigan Irish Peatland Conservation Council ​Farewell & thankyou – Organiser Catherine Farrell, TCD See www.peatlandsgathering.com & www.naturalcapitalireland.com

The Peatlands Gathering event was held online on October 7 & 8th, 2021, and welcomed all who are interested in peatlands to a series of presentations and discussions on the subject. (Chair: Paul Johnston, TCD; Notes taker: Laurence Gill,TCD) The agenda for this session went as follows: Presentation title, speaker, affiliation (each speaker allocated 8 minutes): Peatland restoration and achieving Water Framework Directive objectives - Patrick Morrissey, Environmental Protection Agency Blanket bogs: where does the water flow? - Ray Flynn, Queen's University Belfast Peatlands connecting people: engaging communities and supporting collaboration for peatland and community well-being - Kate Flood, National University of Ireland, Galway Ecohydrology of peatlands - Laurence Gill, Trinity College Dublin Determining monitoring and assessment tools for blanket bog pools and lakes in Wild Nephin - Heather Lally, Galway Mayo Institute of Technology Improving water from managed bogs Florence Renou-Wilson, University College Dublin Q/A Organised by a collective of groups & individuals and hosted by Natural Capital Ireland, the aim of the Gathering was to share knowledge and to cultivate a new beginning for peatlands in Ireland and beyond, promoting dialogue about peatlands and their future, with key messages from the Gathering to be presented at the COP26 meeting on Climate Change in Glasgow in November 2021. See www.peatlandsgathering.com & www.naturalcapitalireland.com

The Peatlands Gathering event was held online on October 7 & 8th, 2021, and welcomed all who are interested in peatlands to a series of presentations and discussions on the subject. In this session the afternoon of Day 2, chaired by journalist Ella McSweeney, each of the session chairs delivered the key messages from their sessions. (each speaker is allocated 5 minutes, notes taker for the session was Pat Fitzgerald, Irish Peatland Society) Session 1: Chair: Catherine Farrell (TCD); Notes taker: David Fallon (Ballydangan Bog) Session 2: Chair: Catherine O'Connell (Irish Peatland Society); Notes taker: Maurice Eakin (NPWS) Session 3: Chair: Pat Fitzgerald, Irish Peatland Society; Notes taker: Ray Flynn (QUB) Session 4: Chair: Florence Renou-Wilson; Notes taker: Ken Byrne (UL) Session 5: Chair: Paul Johnston (TCD); Notes taker: Laurence Gill (TCD) Session 6: Chair: Shane McGuinness (CWF & UCD); Notes taker: Emma Gray (GMIT) Session 7: Chair: David Wilson (Earthy Matters); Notes taker: Francis Mackin (RPS) Session 8: Chair Niall Ó Brolcháin (NUIG); Notes taker: Terry Morley (NUIG) Organised by a collective of groups & individuals and hosted by Natural Capital Ireland, the aim of the Gathering was to share knowledge and to cultivate a new beginning for peatlands in Ireland and beyond, promoting dialogue about peatlands and their future, with key messages from the Gathering to be presented at the COP26 meeting on Climate Change in Glasgow in November 2021. See www.peatlandsgathering.com & www.naturalcapitalireland.com

The Peatlands Gathering event was held online on October 7 & 8th, 2021, and welcomed all who are interested in peatlands to a series of presentations and discussions on the subject. (Chair: Niall Ó Brolcháin, NUIG; Notes taker: Terry Morley, NUIG) The agenda for this session went as follows: Presentation title, speaker, affiliation (each speaker is allocated 8 minutes) Afforestation on Peatland: The Past, the Present, and Lessons for the Future - Ken Bucke, Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine FarmPEAT: Farming with nature in the midland raised bog landscape - Caroline Lalor, FarmPEAT Peat Alternatives, should peat harvesting for horticulture cease immediately? - Munoo Prasad, Compost/AD Research, Limerick University and Cyprus University of Technology Coillte Nature: Ecological Restoration of Peatlands - Hedda Dick, Coillte Nature Carbon dynamics of grasslands on peat - Gary Lanigan, Teagasc Dealing with Designations - Michael Fitzmaurice, Turf Cutters Association Q/A Organised by a collective of groups & individuals and hosted by Natural Capital Ireland, the aim of the Gathering was to share knowledge and to cultivate a new beginning for peatlands in Ireland and beyond, promoting dialogue about peatlands and their future, with key messages from the Gathering to be presented at the COP26 meeting on Climate Change in Glasgow in November 2021. See www.peatlandsgathering.com & www.naturalcapitalireland.com

The Peatlands Gathering event was held online on October 7 & 8th, 2021, and welcomed all who are interested in peatlands to a series of presentations and discussions on the subject. (Chair: David Wilson, Earthy Matters; Notes taker: Francis Mackin, RPS Group) The agenda for this session went as follows: Presentation title, speaker, affiliation (each speaker allocated 8 minutes) Evidence based policy to enable Peatland Restoration, Biodiversity and GHG reduction - Niall Ó Brolcháin, National University of Ireland, Galway Shutting down peatland carbon emissions: Results from Moyarwood bog - David Wilson, Earthy Matters Environmental Consultants The Peatlands Climate Action Scheme - Mark McCorry, Bord na Mona Restoration planning for raised bogs - Francis Mackin, RPS The future of peatlands past? Community, archaeology, and cultural heritage - Ben Gearey, National University of Ireland, Cork Agricultural Peat Soils - Philip Blackwell, Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine Q&A Organised by a collective of groups & individuals and hosted by Natural Capital Ireland, the aim of the Gathering was to share knowledge and to cultivate a new beginning for peatlands in Ireland and beyond, promoting dialogue about peatlands and their future, with key messages from the Gathering to be presented at the COP26 meeting on Climate Change in Glasgow in November 2021. See www.peatlandsgathering.com & www.naturalcapitalireland.com

The Peatlands Gathering event was held online on October 7 & 8th, 2021, and welcomed all who are interested in peatlands to a series of presentations and discussions on the subject. (Chair: Shane McGuinness, CWF & UCD; Notes taker: Emma Gray, GMIT) The agenda for this session went as follows: Presentation title, speaker, affiliation (each speaker allocated 8 minutes) Wonders of our Living Bog - Tina Claffey, Nature Photographer Landscape level interventions on blanket bogs and heaths - Fergal Monaghan, Hen Harrier EIP project Peatland bird communities in Ireland - Alex Copland, Inis Environmental Consultants Ltd. Tracks to a layered landscape - Monica de Bath, Creative Rathangan Meitheal Peatlands in peril: restoring for the future - Catherine Farrell, Trinity College Dublin Q&A Organised by a collective of groups & individuals and hosted by Natural Capital Ireland, the aim of the Gathering was to share knowledge and to cultivate a new beginning for peatlands in Ireland and beyond, promoting dialogue about peatlands and their future, with key messages from the Gathering to be presented at the COP26 meeting on Climate Change in Glasgow in November 2021. See www.peatlandsgathering.com & www.naturalcapitalireland.com