News from Biodiversity Ireland
November 2025

This monthly newsletter provides an update on some of the work of the National Biodiversity Data Centre and highlights upcoming events. 

Biodiversity Ireland Autumn/Winter 2025
 

We are delighted to announce the publication of the next Biodiversity Ireland magazine issue for 2025.

Discover the stories shaping Ireland’s natural world this season, from monitoring moths on farms to butterflies in our gardens, to exploring the importance of turloughs with NPWS. This issue also highlights the wonderful work being carried out by organisations across Ireland including BirdWatch Ireland, Bat Conservation Ireland, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, Moths Ireland and Butterfly Conservation Ireland. We’re also shining a light on our champion recorders who are instrumental to building our understanding of biodiversity in Ireland.

Tidy Towns Pollinator Award 2025

The winners of the 2025 Tidy Towns Pollinator Award have been announced. The Pollinator Award has run since 2016 as a Special Award in the annual Supervalu Tidy Towns awards. It is administrated by the local authority Heritage and Biodiversity Officer network and the National Biodiversity Data Centre. The aim of the award is to encourage and reward pollinator-friendly actions by Tidy Towns groups in line with the recommendations of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. Each winner is awarded a prize of €1,000.

Baile Slachtmhar Bhéal an Mhuirthead/ Belmullet Tidy Towns were the overall winners this year. Inagh Tidy Towns were awarded ‘best newcomer’, and regional awards were given to Balbriggan Tidy Towns, Crinkill Tidy Villages, Ardmore Tidy Towns, Castlegregory Tidy Towns and Cavan Tidy Towns.

The quality of applications this year was so high that ten further Tidy Towns were highly commended for their work for pollinators. Huge congratulations to all the winners and highly commended towns.

Species Alert Issued for New Aquatic Invader

The National Biodiversity Data Centre has issued an Invasive Species Alert following confirmation of the Demon shrimp (Dikerogammarus haemobaphes) in Ireland. The species was first detected on 30 September 2025 in the Shannon River, at Lough Derg, by Dr. Dan Minchin, and has since also been recorded at Lough Ree. This non-native amphipod poses a serious threat to freshwater ecosystems.

Demon shrimp are omnivorous predators that can reach up to 3 cm in length, though they are usually smaller. They resemble other freshwater shrimp, making identification difficult without microscopic examination. Their presence is expected to reduce populations of native and non-native amphipods and other bottom fauna, including insects, disrupting food webs and impacting freshwater biodiversity.

Highly adaptable, Demon shrimp tolerate temperatures up to 30°C and originate from regions with cold winters, making Irish conditions suitable for their spread. Their association with invasive Quagga mussel which provides ideal habitat and is already abundant in Lough Derg, is likely to accelerate their expansion. They inhabit freshwater environments but may also occur at the top of estuaries.

Although the exact pathway of introduction is unknown, it may have been facilitated by the movement of small craft or angling equipment. The establishment of this species could significantly alter the ecology of rivers and lakes across Ireland. The public is urged to share this alert and follow the Check, Clean, Dry code to prevent further spread of Demon shrimp and other invasive species to additional waterbodies.

New blog: Pesticide-free Towns

The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan’s latest blog celebrates communities that have decided to go pesticide-free to protect pollinators and human health.

All over the island of Ireland, communities are reducing their use of pesticides, and many have eliminated them altogether. Some community groups are recognised and rewarded for their work in annual pollinator awards, including the Tidy Towns Pollinator Award which is administered by the Local Authority Heritage and Biodiversity Officer network and the National Biodiversity Data Centre. This award is given to groups who have taken action for pollinators in line with our recommendations, including reducing and eliminating pesticides.

Find out about some of the Tidy Towns groups who have scored full marks for eliminating pesticides in recent years, and how they managed to achieve it.

Marine Bioinvasions in Focus: Key Takeaways from the 2025 Maderia Conference

Work is underway to develop a Management Plan for marine invasive species. As part of this effort, our Marine Invasive Species Officer, Victoria Poppleton, had the privilege of attending the International Conference on Marine Bioinvasions XII 2025 in Madeira. Marine species don’t recognise national borders and can easily spread across connected oceans and coastlines. That’s why it’s so important to learn from the experiences of other countries and to work closely with our neighbours.

Each day had two keynote sessions with impressive and informative speakers. We learnt about the development of an Aquatic Invasive Species Watchlist in Canada, which helps inform monitoring decisions. While in Alaska, data has been used from vessel tracking systems to assess the likelihood of non-indigenous species hitchhiking on the hulls of commercial vessel arrivals.

We heard about the stages various countries are at with their monitoring programmes. Saudi Arabia launched its first monitoring project in 2024 and has made a lot of progress in a short time, while the Netherlands have impressively been tracing invasion pathways to and within the Netherlands through continuous monitoring for decades.Netherlands through continuous monitoring for decades. Many nations, including Ireland, integrate citizen science records into their monitoring programmes, so be sure to look out for marine invasive species on our shores and record them through the Explore Your Shore! citizen science portal
 

Green Flag Pollinator Awards 2025

The 2025 Green Flag Awards for the Republic of Ireland were announced on 12th November in Maynooth Campus by An Taisce – The National Trust for Ireland, after a record-breaking year. The 2025 Green Flag Awards celebrate the recognition of Ireland’s best parks and green spaces.

Four of the 2025 applicants were given a special award for their work supporting pollinating insects. The Pollinator Award is jointly run by An Taisce Environmental Education and the National Biodiversity Data Centre. This award works by assessing pollinator-friendly management of parks and community green spaces. These are scored against the recommendations of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan.

Maynooth Campus were the overall winners and winner of the Town Park award. Ballycroy Visitor Centre, Wild Nephin National Park won in the Country Park/ Demesne category, Sneem Garden of the Senses won in the Community category, and Ardgillan Walled Gardens won in the Walled Garden category. Thirteen further parks were highly commended due to the quality of their applications. In Northern Ireland, four sites were awarded Green Flag Pollinator Awards for 2025 at the awards ceremony in the Walled Garden at Bangor Castle earlier this year.