BirdWatch Ireland
Template:Short description BirdWatch Ireland (BWI) is a voluntary conservation organisation and registered charity devoted to the conservation and protection of wild birds and their habitats in Ireland. It was formerly known as the Irish Wildbird Conservancy (IWC).<ref name=birdwatchireland>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=tripadvisor-uk>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=irelandswildlife.com>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Irish Wildbird Conservancy was founded in 1968, among others by Major Robert (Robin) Ruttledge, an Irish ornithologist who became its first president.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
BWI has over 15,000 active members and supporters, and a network of 30 branches actively promoting the importance of birds and habitats, and general conservation issues. It publishes the annual journal Irish Birds and the quarterly magazine Wings. It manages a number of nature reserves including Little Skellig.<ref name=ien>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
BirdWatch Ireland is a member of the Irish Environmental Network, the Sustainable Water Network (SWAN), Environmental (Ecological) NGOs Core Funding Ltd (EENGO), Working and Educating for Biodiversity (WEB) and the Irish Uplands Forum (IUF). They also work closely with the Irish National Biodiversity Data Centre in providing wildlife monitoring data.
ControversyEdit
The Charities Regulator reported in November 2022 that there had been misuse of funds and inadequate internal controls.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This followed revelations that the organisation had misspent restricted funds designated for specific projects on general expenditure including repairs to the chief executive's wife's car.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Activities and programmesEdit
BirdTrackEdit
BirdTrack is an online citizen science website, operated by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) on behalf of a partnership of the BTO, the RSPB, BirdWatch Ireland, the Scottish Ornithologists' Club and the Welsh Ornithological Society (Template:Langx).<ref name="partners">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="NBN">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Garden Bird SurveyEdit
The Garden Bird Survey (GBS) is one of BirdWatch Ireland's most popular volunteer surveys which receives over 1,000 submissions annually when it takes place between December and February.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Report on declining Irish bird populationsEdit
The organization released the Irish Wetland Bird Survey in the 1990s, when there were 1.2 million wintering waterbirds in Ireland. A recent analysis in April 2019 put the number at 760,000.<ref>"Wintering waterbirds in decline across Ireland": Green News, published 4/3/2019</ref>
In July 2019, Birdwatch Ireland reported that the Irish bird population was in "dramatic" decline, with 40 percent of the country's waterbirds, or half a million, lost in the prior 20 years. Loss of habitat was cited as the reason for the decline.<ref name="1:9">"Irish bird population in ‘dramatic’ decline, Oireachtas committee to hear": The Irish Times, Jack Horgan-Jones, published 2/2/2019</ref> Other reasons were climate changes, agriculture, hedge cutting, pollution, and the burning of scrub.<ref name="3:2"/> Birdwatch Ireland called for Citizens' Assembly to examine the biodiversity loss.<ref name="3:4">"Birdwatch call for examination of biodiversity loss": RTÉ, published 7/2/2019</ref> One of every five Irish bird species assessed in the survey was threatened with extinction.<ref name="3:3">"Legislative changes have ‘weakened protections’ for breeding birds, TDs told": Irish Times, published 7/2/2019</ref> Lapwing numbers, according to Birdwatch Ireland, were down 67% in twenty years.<ref name="3:1">"Bird populations collapse: Today's warning": Irish Examiner, published 7/3/2019</ref> It also said there had been an "almost complete extermination" of farmland birds, for example the corncrake.<ref name="3:2">"Bird populations suffering serious decline - Birdwatch Ireland": RTÉ, David Murphy, published 7/2/2019</ref> The curlew was reported on the verge of extinction in Ireland, with only 150 pairs remaining. In the 1960s, 5,000 pairs had been reported.<ref name="3:2"/><ref name="3:5">"Irish bird numbers 'dramatically' declining with some species facing extinction": The Journal, published 2/2/2019</ref>
Reserves Managed by BirdWatch IrelandEdit
- East Coast Nature Reserve, Co. Wicklow
- Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow
- Wexford Wildfowl Reserve, Co. Wexford
- Capel Island & Knockadoon Head, Co. Cork
- Cuskinny Marsh, Co. Cork
- Sheskinmore Lough, Co. Donegal
- Rogerstown, Co. Dublin
- Shenick Island, Co. Dublin
- Bullock Island, Co. Offaly
- Bishop's Island, Co. Galway
- Small Wood, Co Galway
- Little Skellig, Co. Kerry
- Puffin Island, Co. Kerry
- Illaunmaistir, Co. Mayo
- Termoncarragh Lake, Co. Mayo
- Termoncarragh Meadows, Co. Mayo
- Annagh Marsh, Co. Mayo