Aiming for a Nature Positive Ireland: The Nature Trust at CIEEM Conference
Ciarán Fallon, Managing Director of The Nature Trust was invited to speak at this year’s Irish conference for the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) on 25th April in Athlone. The topic of the conference was ‘Aiming for a Nature Positive Ireland’ with an opening address given by Malcolm Noonan, Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform.
Nature Positive is a global movement that advocates for having more nature at the end of the decade than at the start. The Nature Positive mission is to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and has been committed to by the G7 leaders as well as 50 countries, including Ireland and the UK, committing to protecting at least 30% of the worlds land and ocean by 2030.
The conference asked what ‘Nature Positive’ means in the context of the island of Ireland: what will success look like; what are we already doing to move towards this goal; and what needs to change if we are going to be fully successful?
Ciarán spoke about The Nature Trust as an example of funding nature-positive solutions at scale. Ciarán drew on the experience of The Nature Trust to date in working with corporate partners to fund large-scale native woodland establishment and our ambitions to do so in communities across Ireland. Ciarán also spoke about The Nature Trust’s plan to deliver a large peatland restoration project with the donation of a corporate partner and the potential for rewilding and restoration projects.
‘We know that we are facing huge challenges when it comes to loss of biodiversity, both locally and globally’ says Ciarán. ‘However, it’s encouraging to learn more about the various initiatives happening here in Ireland at the conference today. It’s been a great opportunity to let others know about our large-scale peatland restoration and native woodland afforestation programmes and connect with individuals and organisations who share our goals and ambitions.’
Presentations included representation from the National Parks and Wildlife, Business for Biodiversity Ireland, the Marine Institute, Bord na Móna and Eirgrid among others.
We would like to thank CIEEM for inviting The Nature Trust along to take part in such a thought-provoking and forward-thinking event.
Photo Caption: Minister Malcom Noonan and Ciarán Fallon, Nature Trust MD, at the Irish CIEEM Conference