Wildlife Crime & Conservation Conference 2023
Date: 30th September & 1st October 2023
Saturday’s theme is Wildlife Crime: Justice for Nature
Sunday’s theme is Conservation: How to Nurture Nature
Venue: The Glenview Hotel, Glen of the Downs, Wicklow, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
This conference presents a valuable networking opportunity for all sectors with an interest in tackling wildlife crime or working towards the conservation of Ireland’s heritage.
Jointly hosted by PAW Ireland, USPCA, WRI
Programme – Saturday 30th Sept 2023
Wildlife Crime: Justice for Nature
08.30 | Registration & Coffee | ||||||
09.00 | Welcome address |
Seosaimhín McCarren (WRI) | |||||
09.10 | Protecting wildlife for a healthy planet | Chair: Pádraic Fogarty |
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09.30 | NPWS role in prevention and prosecution of wildlife crime | .. | Suzanne Nally (Principal Officer for the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Wildlife Enforcement and Nature Protection) | ||||
09.50 | .. | Wildlife Crime – What has been achieved | Emma Meredith (PSNI Wildlife Liaison Officer) | ||||
10.10 | Rationale for dedicated unit to provide investigative support to law enforcement agencies | Chief Inspector Kevin Kelly (Head of the National Wildlife Crime Unit UK) | |||||
10.30 | Effecting change via the political system. Panel Q&A | Jennifer Whitmore (TD Social Democrats, Spokesperson for Climate Action, Biodiversity and Energy) Panel: Niall, Emma, Kevin, Jennifer | |||||
10.50 | Coffee | ||||||
11.10 | An Garda Síochána’s role in the prevention of wildlife crime | Chief Superintendent Ann Markey, (Crime Legal, An Garda Síochána) & Det Sgt James King (Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation) | |||||
11.30 | Inland Fisheries Ireland wildlife crime enforcement team training & structure | Francis O’Donnell (CEO, Inland Fisheries Ireland) | |||||
11.50 | PAW Ireland & PAW App – raising the profile and reporting of wildlife crimes | Damien Hannigan (Irish Deer Commission, PAW Ireland) | |||||
12.10 | Badger Baiting within Northern Ireland | Ian Lyle (USPCA Special Investigations Unit) | |||||
12.30 | Justice for Nature and the Nature of Justice. Panel Q&A | Kieran Buckley (Regional Manager, NPWS). Panel: Ann, James, Francis, Damien, Ian, Kieran | |||||
12.50 | Lunch | ||||||
1.30 | Identifying signs and symptoms of wildlife crime casualties | Dr Alan Wolfe (Veterinary pathologist UCD) | |||||
2.00 | Round table discussion
Reflect and Renew – can we provide justice for nature |
Panel: Dr Micheál Ó Cinnéide (NPWS Review joint author, Retired Director EPA & Marine Institute), Jennifer W., NPWS, Niall Sargent (journalist – Noteworthy) | |||||
2.50 | Coffee | ||||||
3.10 | Preserving evidence at a crime scene | Mícheál Casey (Dept of Agriculture, Food & the Marine) | |||||
3.45 | Round table discussion
‘What’s Stopping Us From Addressing Wildlife Crime in Ireland: Challenges & Opportunities’ |
Panel: Niamh Guiry (UCC School of Law),Mícheál C, NPWS, | |||||
4.45 |
Close | ||||||
5.15pm | Trip to Avoca for Red kite roosting wildlife spectacle! | Marc Ruddock (Red Kite Project Manager for the Golden Eagle Trust) |
Programme – Sunday 1st Oct 2023
Conservation: How to Nurture Nature
08.30 | Registration & Coffee | |||
Theme: Protecting our wildlife; are we really? | ||||
09.00 | Welcome address | Seosaimhín McCarren (WRI) |
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09.10 | The urgent need to address our environmental crisis | Chair: Karen Ciesielski (Irish Environmental Network CEO) | ||
09.30 | Changing attitudes – the views of the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss | Dr Micheál Ó Cinnéide (NPWS Review joint author, Retired Director EPA & Marine Institute) | ||
09.50 | Nurturing Nature: Fostering Community Stewardship | Dr Brendan Dunford (Burrenbeo Trust) | ||
10.10 | Reducing your environmental impact | James Orr (Friends of the Earth NI) | ||
10.30 | Addressing the threat and impacts of Invasive Alien Species to protect Ireland’s Wildlife | Martina O’Brien (Invasive Species Engagement Officer, National Biodiversity Data Centre) | ||
10.50 | Coffee | |||
Theme: Potential solutions | ||||
11.10 | A vision of facilities for rehabilitating Irish wildlife | Dr Michael Gunn (Veterinary Surgeon and retired Director of Laboratories DAFM, WRI Director) | ||
11.30 | Rights of Nature: Origins, Development and Possibilities for the Island of Ireland | Dr Peter Doran (Environmental Justice Network Ireland, Senior Lecturer, School of Law – Queens NI) | ||
11.50 | The role of the media as a custodian for the environment | Niall Sargent (Journalist ‘Noteworthy’) | ||
12.10 | Counteracting the dramatic adverse changes on Ireland’s natural biodiversity | Ronan Hannigan (The Eco Restoration Trust) | ||
12.30 | Weaving a patchwork of safe havens for nature globally. | Mary Reynolds (reformed landscape designer, The Ark project) | ||
12.50 | Lunch | |||
Theme: Debunking the myths | ||||
1.30 | Air, Soil & Water: Environmental DNA for biodiversity and wildlife monitoring and conservation | Dr David Duffy (Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience -University of Florida, and WRI Director) | ||
2.00 | Round Table Discussion
Debunking sustainability myths and misconceptions |
Chair John Gibbons (Environmental journalist) Panel: Mary, Fintan Kelly (Irish Environmental Network) | ||
2.50 | Coffee | |||
3.10 | Round Table Discussion
From recommendations to realisations |
Chair: Fintan Kelly. Panel: Micheál, Brendan, Peter | ||
4.00 | Biodiversity and the everything emergency | John Gibbons (Environmental journalist) | ||
4.45pm |
.. | Close & Raffle | .. |
Speakers
We were delighted to welcome the following guest speakers to our Conference:
Pádraic FogartyEcologistPádraic Fogarty is an ecologist and former campaign officer with the Irish Wildlife Trust. He is author of the 2017 book ‘Whittled Away: Ireland’s Vanishing Nature’. |
Ann MarkeyChief SuperintendentAn Garda Síochána |
Francis O’ DonnellChief Executive OfficerInland Fisheries Ireland
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Marc RuddockRed Kite Project ManagerGolden Eagle Trust |
2023 WILDLIFE CRIME & CONSERVATION CONFERENCE
Timeline of Recent Wildlife Crime Developments in Ireland
The NPWS is the main State organisation working in the area of ecosystem and wildlife conservation. Established in 2003, it is an Executive Agency with statutory functions. The NPWS are designated as authorised officers under the 1976 Wildlife Acts and 2011 European Community (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations. The NPWS has been chronically under-resourced and under-funded for some time, a fact that has led to a national review and reform of its structure and responsibilities:
October 2020: The Programme for Government: Our Shared Future included the intention to review the ‘remit, status, and funding’ of the NPWS to ensure that the organisation was capable of carrying out its wildlife protection and enforcement activities. Also announced this month were plans to establish a specialised Irish wildlife crime unit.
March 2021: A public consultation was launched as part of the Strategic Review of the NPWS. Some of the main submission themes received from members of the public related to the creation of a well- resourced, ambitious, independent body capable of addressing Ireland’s most pressing wildlife conservation, protection, and restoration challenges, alongside support for the establishment of an Irish wildlife crime unit. From the online survey aspect of the consultation, the overriding consensus that emerged was that the NPWS had not realised its principal objectives.
June 2021: The Launch of Joint Protocol Between National Parks & Wildlife Service & An Garda Síochána on Wildlife Crime to tackle wildlife crime in Ireland, which established a close strategic relationship between the two bodies and allowed for cooperative operations and the sharing of data and resources. It was also outlined that a Wildlife Crime Liaison Inspector would be assigned in each Garda Division and NPWS staff would provide guidance related to the Wildlife Act to Garda personnel.
June 2021: Publication of the independent review of the NPWS by Stout and Ó Cinnéide ‘Review of the NPWS 2021: Final report on the key findings and recommendations’. The overwhelming message of the report was that the current form of the NPWS was not fit for purpose and that immediate change was needed, both in the context of reforming the NPWS and addressing biodiversity protection inadequacies on a national level. The report outlined that the chronic under-investment of the NPWS had contributed to the ‘failure to properly implement all aspects of the EU Nature Directives’ resulting in compliance proceedings against Ireland led by the European Commission. Altogether, the report recommended the comprehensive transformation of the NPWS to facilitate positive long-term change.
February 2022: Publication of the Kearney review ‘Reflect and Renew – A Review of the National Parks and Wildlife Service’ which used an ‘organisation, governance and systems lens’ to explore the NPWS. It gave a number of recommendations concerning NPWS governance structures, human resources, communications, and on a legislative level, the review called for the revision of the ‘statutory underpinnings for our National Parks and the work of the NPWS’ to strengthen, support, and define its operation and conservation functions.
May 2022: In light of the findings of the NPWS Strategic Review, the Strategic Action Plan for the renewal of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) 2022-2024 was announced. The multi-phase four-year plan aims to ensure that the NPWS is fully resourced with a ‘robust organisational structure to deliver fully on its mandate and play its part in Ireland’s response to the biodiversity emergency, on the national and international stage’.
June 2022: The original proposal to establish the Irish wildlife crime unit was withdrawn in June 2022. Alternatively, it was decided to increase the number of general wildlife rangers.
June 2023: Publication of the 1st NPWS Strategic Plan 2023-25. Informed by the reviews and public consultation that were carried out as part of the NPWS Strategic Review, the Strategic Plan sets out the NPWS core mission (to protect nature), its core values (including partnership, transparency, accountability) and key priorities and strategic goals until 2025.
(Niamh Guiry)
Thanks to the NPWS for a donation of €2000 towards Conference costs