National Parks and Wildlife Service

19/09/2026

Today Rangers and staff of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), together with a few friends, will join more than 1,000 Rangers from over 100 ranger teams across Africa in the Wildlife Ranger Challenge. This is the sixth year of the event, but for the first time there will be an Irish entry.

The challenge sees Ranger teams complete a half marathon and a range of other endurance tasks. Being an island nation, however, Team Ireland will be rowing rather than running, and hopefully staying dry in the process! Participants will tackle the 21km challenge on indoor rowing machines, kindly provided by Community Rowing Wicklow (we are enormously grateful for their generosity, enthusiasm and support).

Our small but enthusiastic group of rowers, drawn from both indoor rowing clubs and on-the-water rowing communities, will gather in Greystones Scout Hall to complete the challenge, either solo or in relay teams of four. Many participants have already spent the summer taking part in a departmental “Round Ireland” rowing challenge, covering a notional 1,500km journey around the island. That involved a lot of huffing and puffing!

Our participation this year is in solidarity and support of our conservation colleagues in Africa. We are all too aware of the hazards and challenges faced by Rangers in the front-line of protecting the planet.

18/09/2026

17/09/2026

07/08/2026

24/07/2026

Ranger Rory has another message for everyone!

The breeding season is starting to wind down here on Great Saltee. This is our second year running the Seabird Wardening project on the island, and we are delighted with all the hard work the wardens are doing. Our wardens are out there working with visitors every-day during the breeding season, educating visitors why these birds choose Great Saltee to raise their young and what it takes to give them a successful breeding season.

A roped cordon area and temporary signage are in place to guide visitors while the breeding season runs, giving the birds room to come and go with minimal disturbance. If you're visiting, follow the wardens' instructions, stick to the main path, and give the birds plenty of space. Puffins nest in burrows and lay just one egg per pair per season. Straying off the path risks stepping on a burrow and collapsing it, a serious threat to the colony, and one that's completely avoidable.

Puffins are the most well-known species on Great Saltee. However, there are other inhabitants including Fulmar, Gannet, Cormorant, S**g, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Kittiwake, Guillemot and Razorbill.

Thank you to all of our wardens for helping us to protect the birds, and thank you to visitors for respecting their instructions!

24/07/2026

09/07/2026

Launch of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan 2026-2030

On July 9th, the new All-Ireland Pollinator Plan 2026-2030 was launched at the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin, by Ireland’s Minister for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan TD, and Andrew Muir, Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland (pictured here with Dr Úna FitzPatrick, Chief Scientific Officer for the National Biodiversity Data Centre)

Welcoming the launch, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “I warmly welcome the launch of the third phase of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan out to 2030, supported through the Government’s Shared Island Fund, National Parks and Wildlife Service and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and by the Northern Ireland Executive. The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan has proved an enormous success over the last decade in bringing together farmers, local communities, public bodies and businesses to help conserve and create a landscape where pollinators can survive and thrive. I look forward to seeing the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan expand and continue this crucial work in protecting sustainable agriculture, food security, and benefitting the island’s unique and precious biodiversity.”

“Since 2015, implementation of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan has been coordinated by the National Biodiversity Data Centre. Thanks to action across all sectors during the first ten years of the Plan, pollinators are now in a much better position, but they still face major challenges. The 2026-2030 phase will be supported by a dedicated team of eight staff within the National Biodiversity Data Centre. Our monitoring schemes and expertise help to provide the scientific basis for evidence-based action and to identify where action will have the greatest impact for our threatened pollinators.” - Liam Lysaght, CEO, National Biodiversity Data Centre

The 2026-2030 phase of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan is supported through funding from the Government of Ireland's Shared Island Fund, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency

To find out more visit https://biodiversityireland.ie/launch-of-all-ireland-pollinator-plan-2026-2030/

To find out more about the work of the National Biodiversity Data Centre, visit biodiversityireland.ie

Find out more at pollinators.ie

08/07/2026

You are invited to come along to Sonairte this Saturday for the launch of the Biodiversity Photographer of the Year Exhibition 2026!

Address: Sonairte, The Ninch, Laytown, Co. Meath, A92 D9X
Time: Open to the public from 2pm

See the prints in person this Saturday and enjoy a day out at Sonairte. Explore the 2 acre walled garden dating back to the 1800's, which has been under official organic management since 1988. Walk the nature trail and see the tidal river Nanny and the wildlife that lives there, an old meadow which has been in permanent pasture since the 19th century, and the view to Ballygarth Castle. The grounds of Sonairte also host a cafe, eco-shop, bee museum, as well as more historic sites along the nature trails that you can explore at your leisure.

Fair Seas Irish Environmental Network National Parks and Wildlife Service The Heritage Council

03/07/2026