In Your Nature

• In Your Nature Ep 58 - Biodiversity with Éanna Ní Lamhna

  Send us a textIn our last episode of 2024, In Your Nature welcomes a well-known nature celebrity for a very lively chat. Niall and Ricky speak to Éanna Ní Lamhna about biodiversity and her long track record of writing, broadcasting and advocating about and for Ireland’s flora and fauna. Éanna gives her characteristic, energetic and unfiltered opinion on nature broadcasting, biodiversity loss in Ireland, together with her hopes and dreams for Irish biodiversity in the future. Éanna really get's into it and eventually leaves Ricky afraid to ask any further questions 😅.Bird of the Week is the Great Northern Diver (Common Loon) as nominated by Éanna, a streamlined seabird evolved for life at sea.Éanna’s new book “The Great Irish Biodiversity Book” takes us on a trip through Irish wildlife habitats – from bogs to beaches and woodland to grassland. Discover how habitats work and which creatures and plants to look out for in each one, from the very rare to the most common, all brought to life with amazing illustrations by Barry Falls. For more info and to purchase the book click here.In Your Nature features Ricky Whelan, Biodiversity Officer with Offaly County Council and Niall Hatch of BirdWatch Ireland and is edited by Ann-Marie Kelly. The series is supported by Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath County Councils, The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Heritage Council.For more about BirdWatch Ireland, visit www.birdwatchireland.ie.

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• In Your Nature Ep 57 - Farming For Nature (Handbook)

  Send us a textThe eagerly awaited, Farming For Nature (FFN) Handbook has just been published, Ricky and Niall take the opportunity to discuss how important farms and farmers are for nature in Ireland, given the dominance of agriculture lands across the Irish landscape. Ricky speaks Dr Emma Hart on behalf of FFN and co-authors, Bridgit Barry and Brendan Dunford about the book, its content and objectives. The Farming For Nature Handbook (purchase here) was inspired by the regular requests received by Farming For Nature, from people wanting to learn how best to manage their land, big or small, in a way that enhances habitats, increases wildlife, harnesses natural processes, protects profits, and safeguards our natural environment and rural communities for future generations. The handbook features the stories, experience and learnings of almost 50 farmers. Emma is a conservation ecologist and writer. She is the founder of habitats.ie, a consultancy service in biodiversity conservation, science communication, and research and of Oysterhaven Biodiversity Reserve, a farm, research site, and nature restoration project in the south of Ireland. Emma has a PhD in conservation ecology and extensive international experience of managing science-based conservation initiatives. She serves on several inter(national) professional committees including for the IUCN and Farming for Nature and publishes regularly in the scientific and popular press.Bird of the Week is the Common Snipe as nominated by Emma, a handsome and quirky wee species common on our bogs and other wetland habitats. In Your Nature features Ricky Whelan, Biodiversity Officer with Offaly County Council and Niall Hatch of BirdWatch Ireland and is edited by Ann-Marie Kelly. The series is supported by Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath County Councils, The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Heritage Council.For more about BirdWatch Ireland, visit www.birdwatchireland.ie.

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• In Your Nature Ep 56 - Step Into Nature

  Send us a textStep into Nature, is a new book written and illustrated by naturalist Rachel McKenna, chronicles a year of her observations of everything from plants to birds, insects and fungi. It is journey through her year, describing her finds and allowing readers to pick up the book and share in her curiosity and learn from her finds. Ricky speaks to Rachel from Killaun Bog near Birr Co. Offaly, one of the sites Rachel frequents. She outlines how her curiosity was triggered, where she has found the experience and support needed in helping to identify species and grow her knowledge in a few short years. Rachel talks about the wonder of nature, the importance of networks, the value of citizen science and health rivalry between biodiversity recorders.Niall and Ricky are full of praise for Rachel, her new book and the efforts of citizen scientists who volunteer their time and observations to furthering biodiversity monitoring and conservation in Ireland and internationally.  Bird of the Week is the Common Buzzard as nominated by Rachel, a species which gets a unanimous thumbs up from the lads. In Your Nature features Ricky Whelan, Biodiversity Officer with Offaly County Council and Niall Hatch of BirdWatch Ireland and is edited by Ann-Marie Kelly. The series is supported by Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath County Councils, The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Heritage Council.For more about BirdWatch Ireland, visit www.birdwatchireland.ie.

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• In Your Nature Ep 55 - Eco Tourism (or is it?)

  Send us a textWe all need a holiday from time to time but there's no doubt that travelling comes with a cost, and we're not just talking about to your bank balance! Travelling comes with an environmental impact but "eco-tourism" or "sustainable tourism" offers an opportunity to lower that impact significantly. However, with these terms becoming buzzwords in recent years, it is important to avoid accepting them at face value. So, how can you distinguish a true eco-tourism option from greenwashing? In this episode, Niall and Ricky hope to clarify this often confusing matter so that you can confidently make more eco-conscious travel choices going forward.There's no denying that any form of travel will have an impact on the environment but that is not to say we can't all make more positive and responsible choices. As Niall and Ricky describe, eco-tourism should benefit the communities, habitats and species of an area more than it takes away from it. At the 2024 Global Bird Fair in Rutland, United Kingdom, Niall spoke to some people involved in true eco-tourism to illustrate how that works in practice. They include Sandra Morocho from the Quijos Valley in Ecuador, the place that holds the world record for the number of bird species within 24-kilometres in 24-hours - a staggering 493! He also speaks to Chandika Jayaratne of Jetwing Eco Holidays in Sri Lanka, an initiative aimed at providing an enjoyable tourist experience while in turn, giving back to local initiatives.Of course, you don't have to travel abroad to enjoy an eco-tourism experience! Niall and Ricky explore some examples of nature-focused trips worth considering in Ireland including BirdWatch Ireland's Cape Clear Bird Observatory in Co. Cork and the Wild Mind Festival in Fenit Co. Kerry.In keeping with tradition, Niall and Ricky choose a Bird of the Week and this time, the White-tailed Eagle seemed particularly fitting. Formerly lost from Ireland and Scotland, the spectacular raptor now attracts tourists to places like Killarney and the Isle of Mull owing to a successful reintroduction initiative. In Your Nature features Ricky Whelan, Biodiversity Officer with Offaly County Council and Niall Hatch of BirdWatch Ireland and is edited by Ann-Marie Kelly. The series is supported by Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath County Councils, The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Heritage Council.For more about BirdWatch Ireland, visit www.birdwatchireland.ie.

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• In Your Nature Ep 54 - Global Birdfair 2024

  Send us a textThis episode of In Your Nature comes from across the pond as Niall records from the 2024 Global Bird Fair in Rutland, United Kingdom. Known to many as "Glastonbury for birders", the Global Bird Fair sees conservation organisations, photographers, authors, artists ecotourism companies and many more join together to celebrate their shared love of birds. Over a July weekend, attendees are treated to a jam-packed schedule of talks, workshops, film screenings and other events, all themed around birds and wildlife conservation.This year, Niall took the opportunity to interview some of the interesting birders that he met at the event. This includes Chief Executive of BirdLife International, Martin Harper, who spoke about the impact that the Global Bird Fair has made on conservation projects worldwide owing to the fundraising element of the event. He also caught up with Head of Communications and Awareness at the Hellenic Ornithological Society/ BirdLife Greece, Roula Trigou. She likens the Global Bird Fair to an annual family gathering, where people who are fighting for the same cause join together. For her, the event perfectly illustrates how birds connect our world. Laura Kammermeier from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology also took some time to speak with Niall about Cornell's many inspiring and educational initiatives including the highly popular Merlin Bird ID app, as well as Birds of the World – a subscription-based online resource and the world’s largest, most comprehensive, scholarly resource for birds.Meanwhile, Rachel Bigsby is looking at birds from a different perspective, quite literally. The wildlife photographer spoke with Niall about how events like the Global Bird Fair can help new photographers get to grips with techniques and ethics, while she also reveals the Northern Fulmar as the seabird that kickstarted her passion for photography.No matter where you travel to, you're almost guaranteed to bump into someone else from Ireland and the Global Bird Fair is no exception! Niall caught up with ornithologist Seán Ronayne of Irish Wildlife Sounds to talk about his early days of sound recording, a hobby that has since led to his highly-regarded documentary, Birdsong, album Wild Silence and a soon-to-be-released book, Nature Boy.In keeping with tradition, Niall and Ricky choose a Bird of the Week and of course, they couldn't do an episode on the Global Bird Fair without mentioning the event's emblem, the Osprey.In Your Nature features Ricky Whelan, Biodiversity Officer with Offaly County Council and Niall Hatch of BirdWatch Ireland and is edited by Ann-Marie Kelly. The series is supported by Laois, Offaly, and Westmeath County Councils, The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Heritage Council.For more about BirdWatch Ireland, visit www.birdwatchireland.ie.

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