Irish Wildlife Insider

Dear Irish Wildlife Trust members & friends,

Hope through Action is one of our core guiding principles. Recognising the scale of nature loss can be overwhelming, so we work to inform and empower our community to take action for nature. This week we all have an historic opportunity to make our voices heard.

We have until 01 July to make submissions to the first draft National Nature Restoration Plan. Every single submission will be read and reviewed by the government.

It is also Invasive Species Week and we are encouraging gardeners, landowners, community groups, and local authorities to take simple but powerful actions to help nature recover. Find our resources below including a blog post and a link to the webinar we held yesterday with Mary Reynolds (environmental activist and founder of We Are The Ark).

Ireland is at a turning point for nature. Right now, the government is finalising its first-ever National Nature Restoration Plan — a legally binding roadmap that will shape how we restore our landscapes, waters, and wildlife all the way to 2050. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and public submissions genuinely matter. The consultation is open now and the deadline to have your say is 1 July 2026.

The Irish Wildlife Trust is part of the Environmental Pillar (a coalition of 32 environmental NGOs). The Environmental Pillar has identified nine key priorities that Ireland's Nature Restoration Plan must address. We invite you to adopt these recommendations in your submission, and to add your own voice and personal experience of nature in your community.

You are part of nature restoration. Make your voice heard!

Be Plant Wise. Let nature lead. Plant native.

This Invasive Species Week (22–28 June 2026), we are encouraging gardeners, landowners, community groups, and local authorities to take simple but powerful actions to help nature recover.

The message is straightforward:

• Stop planting invasive species, including popular garden and hedging plants such as Cherry Laurel, Rhododendron, and Spanish Bluebell.

• Be Plant Wise by choosing plants that support biodiversity and do not escape into the wild and harm biodiversity.

• Let nature lead by allowing native plants already present in the soil to regenerate naturally.

• If you are planting, choose native species and local provenance trees and hedging.

• Welcome nature back into your garden and watch wildlife return.

By being plant wise, embracing native species, and allowing nature to recover, every garden can become part of Ireland’s nature restoration movement, providing a growing network of habitats for wildlife.

Learn more:

• Read our latest blog for an overview of the scale of the problem plus resources on native planting, local provenance trees, and the Seeds of Inspiration project.

   

• The National Biodiversity Data Centre (NBDC) coordinates Invasive Species Week. You can learn about invasive species in Ireland here.

• Watch the IWT Invasive Species Week webinar with Oisín Ó Néill and Mary Reynolds.

• Réabhlóid ar Chúl an Tí, a TG4 series hosted by Mary Reynolds and Aedín Ní Thiarnaigh, seeks to change the way we view our gardens by turning gardeners into guardians.

• Find out how to Be Plant Wise and prevent invasives escaping into the wild.