Wildlife Crime & Conservation Conference 2020

Crimes against Wildlife, & Mitigation for Wildlife Protection

Human activity, deliberate or otherwise, continues to have a negative impact on Ireland’s environment and wildlife; the aim of this conference is to identify some of the threats, problems, and solutions to resolve this.

Wildlife suffer not only from intentional harm and persecution such as poisoning and illegal hunting and trapping, but also from habitat destruction and continuing human encroachment on their dwindling wild spaces through insensitive farming practices and ill-considered building construction, and through expansion of our transport infrastructure.

Finding solutions will require new ideas and approaches beyond existing conservation practices and protections, as well as increased engagement from communities, NGO’s and local and national government. A new strategy is needed – the Conference will be a two-day event that will explore these issues and work towards a strategy to create an environment of planned co-existence rather than inadvertent conflict with nature.

Wildlife Crime & Conservation Conference 2020

24th October – Crimes against wildlife

Time	Title	Speaker
9.00	Logging onto zoom
9.30	Welcome and Introduction to Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland	Helena Cooney, Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland
9.40	Minister’s address	Minister Darragh O’Brien
9.50	What is wildlife crime	Noel Bugler, National Parks and Wildlife Service
10.10	Wildlife Crime enforcement within NPWS	National Parks and Wildlife Service
10.30	An Garda Síochána role in wildlife crime	James King, An Garda Síochána
10.50	Q&A and Coffee
11.10	Shooting and the law	Seamus Heraty, National Association of Regional Game Councils
11.30	Ireland’s wild birds and the RAPTOR protocol	Sinéad Cummins, National Parks and Wildlife Service
11.50	It is truly amazing what can be achieved if it doesn’t really matter who gets the credit	Supt Brian Kee and Emma Meredith, Wildlife Liaison Officer, Police Service of Northern Ireland
12.10	Q&A and Lunch
1.00	Environmental Crimes legislation	Attracta Uí Bhroin, Irish Environmental Network
1.20	What vets in practice should know about wildlife crime	Pete Wedderburn, Bray Vet
1.40	PAW Ireland & Reporting App Launch (Animation & Leaflet)	Lorcan O’Toole, Golden Eagle Trust

Breakout Room Discussions

2.10	Mammals	Environment, Marine & Freshwater	Birds
2.10	Andrew Kelly Badgerwatch Ireland Damien Hannigan, Irish Deer Commission Tina Aughney, Bat Conservation Ireland	Padraig Fogarty Irish Wildlife Trust Francis O’Donnell & David Harrington, Inland Fisheries Ireland Melanie Croce, Seal Rescue Ireland	Paul Gallagher, Birdwatch Ireland Meath Lorcan O’Toole, Golden Eagle Trust
2.30	Mammals	Environment, Marine & Freshwater	Birds
2.50	Mammals	Environment, Marine & Freshwater	Birds

3.10		Feedback from group discussions	Heidi Bedell, Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland
3.50 – 4.00		Close	Helena Cooney, Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland

25th October – Mitigation for wildlife protection

Time	Title	Speaker
9.30	Logging onto zoom
10.00	Welcome and Introduction to Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland	Helena Cooney, Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland
10.10	Cumulative effect of development of infrastructure	David Duffy, Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience
10.30	Mitigation measures for the protection of wildlife across the national road network in Ireland	Vincent O’Malley, Transport Infrastructure Ireland
10.50	Habitats and Birds Directive for wildlife protection	Marie Louse Heffernan, Aster Environmental Consultants
11.10	Procurement of wildlife measures in transportation construction projects	Seamus McGearailt, Roughan & O’Donovan
11.30	Q&A and Coffee
11.50	The story of the Kilcock otters	Brigit Loughlin, Heritage Officer – Kildare County Council
12.10	Accessing data on Ireland’s biodiversity and how you can contribute	Liam Lysaght, National Biodiversity Data Centre
12.30	Mammal mortality on roads	Amy Haigh, UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science
12.50	Understanding Barn Owl behaviour and mortality in relation to major roads to inform mitigation requirements	John Lusby, Birdwatch Ireland
1.10	Q&A and Lunch
2.00	The importance of tailoring bat mitigation	Tina Aughney, Bat Ecoservices
2.20	The M11 Badger Project: A Mitigation Case Study	Enda Mullen, National Parks and Wildlife Service
2.40	Research on badger road traffic casualties in Northern Ireland	Mike Rendle, Northern Ireland Badger Group
3.00	Q&A and outstanding Poll discussions	Seamus McGearailt, Roughan & O’Donovan
3.10	Weaving a patchwork of safe havens for nature	Mary Reynolds, Reformed landscape designer
3.20	Close	Helena Cooney, Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland

Speakers

Tina Aughney

Bat Ecoservices

Noel Bugler

District Conservation Officer with the National Parks and Wildlife Service

Sinéad Cummins

National Parks and Wildlife Service

Dave Duffy

Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida

Amy Haigh

UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science

Damien Hannigan

Irish Deer Commission

Marie Louse Heffernan

Aster Environmental Consultants Ltd. Environmental consultant ecologist (CEnv, MIEEM)

Seamus Heraty

National Association of Regional Game Councils

Supt Brian Kee

Police Service of Northern Ireland

Det Sgt James King

(Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation) An Garda Síochána

Brigit Loughlin

Heritage Officer – Kildare County Council

John Lusby

Raptor Conservation Officer with Birdwatch Ireland

Liam Lysaght

National Biodiversity Data Centre

Seamus McGearailt

Roughan & O’Donovan

Emma Meredith

Wildlife Liaison Officer, Police Service of Northern Ireland

Enda Mullen

Divisional Ecologist with National Parks and Wildlife Service

Minister Darragh O’Brien

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Vincent O’Malley

Head of Environmental Policy & Compliance at Transport Infrastructure Ireland

Lorcan O’Toole

Managing Director of the Golden Eagle Trust

Mike Rendle

Northern Ireland Badger Group

Mary Reynolds

Reformed landscape designer

Attracta Uí Bhroin

Environmental Law Officer at the Irish Environmental Network

Pete Wedderburn

Veterinary surgeon (BVM&S CertVR MRCVS) & WRI Patron