Seeking out Ireland’s fragile snakes
A chance encounter with a dead Slow Worm on a lane in the Burren led to Nick Parry’s six-year quest to understand this mysterious reptile The mysterious slow worm
Since its establishment in 2007, the National Biodiversity Data Centre has developed into an essential component of the national heritage infrastructure to make information on Ireland’s biodiversity more accessible for decision-making, to assist engagement by both the public and private sectors with biodiversity and to support the conservation of biological diversity in Ireland. It achieves this through a diverse work programme that is supported by a state-of-the-art bioinformatics infrastructure and a small but dedicated team of staff.
Click on any of the tabs below to learn more about the work carried out at the National Biodiversity Data Centre:
People engaged more with biodiversity during Covid-19 lockdown
‘People engaged more actively with nature during the Covid-19 lockdown’, is the picture that emerged from the network of volunteers that contribute biodiversity data to the National Biodiversity Data Centre.
Recorders reach the 100,000th record mark in 2020!
A significant milestone was reached recently when the number of records submitted through Ireland’s Citizen Science Portal in 2020 passed the 100,000 mark. The 100,000th record was of Common
Practical advice on managing wildflower meadows
Anne Sundermann, Ricky Whelan and Brian Gaynor explain how natural meadows are flourishing under management practices of the Irish Wildlife Trust Laois/Offaly branch One of the best and
Communities helping our endangered pollinators
Since the publication of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan in 2015, we have been blown away by how local communities have embraced actions and have led the way in the
The secret life of solitary bees
Dr Úna FitzPatrick, Senior Ecologist at the National Biodiversity Data Centre and co-founder of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, introduces the amazing, little-known world of our solitary bees. Have
55% of Councils have become partners with the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan
Ireland’s pollinating insects are under threat, with one-third of our 98 wild bee species at risk of extinction. The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan aims to reverse these declines and has identified
The business of helping pollinators
When we published the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan at the end of 2015, I didn’t envisage businesses playing a big role in helping. I couldn’t have been more wrong! It seems
Measuring Farmland Biodiversity
Dr Neus Rodriguez-Gasol explains how farms can be surveyed for biodiversity and provides details on the surveying techniques used by the Protecting Farmland Pollinators EIP Survey Team. Nowadays
Working together with farmers to help pollinators
50 years ago, our farms were pollinator havens. Extensive hedgerows flowered in spring and hay meadows in summer; and well-fed pollinators buzzed around, free from chemicals. Times change and things
