Programme

National Biodiversity Conference Session Plan

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Wednesday 8th June 2022

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Morning

Registration opens 08.00; Coffee, tea and refreshments will be served until 9.00am

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Opening Plenary Session

Location: Plenary Hall, The Printworks

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09.15 – 09.20 Assistant Secretary General, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Niall Ó Donnchú

09.20 – 09.30 Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien, TD

09.30 – 09.45 Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan, TD

09.45 – 10.00 Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity Senator Pippa Hackett

10.00 – 10.15 Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity

10.15 – 10.35 Stefan Leiner, Head of Biodiversity Unit, EC Directorate General for Environment

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10.35 – 11.30 Break and networking

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11.30 – 11.50 Andy Bleasdale, NPWS – National Biodiversity Perspectives

11.50 – 12.10 Ciara Carberry, NPWS – Review, Reflect, Renew: Transforming the National Parks &

Wildlife Service

12.10 – 12.30 Orlaith Delargy, KPMG – Ireland’s 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan

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12.30 – 13.30 Buffet lunch

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Afternoon

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Parallel Sessions Group 1

13.30 – 15.00

1. Changing Oceans: Working together to protect and restore our marine and coastal environment

Location: Bedford Hall Main Room

Chair: Richard Cronin, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage 

Tasman Crowe, University College Dublin; Grainne Ni Chongaile, Caomhnu Arann; Ditte Mandøe Andreasen, Taenketanken Hav; Seamus Bonner, Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation; Dominic Pattinson, OSPAR

2. Food, Forests and the Future 1: The role of forestry in driving nature recovery

Location: Plenary Hall, The Printworks

Chair: Orla Fahy, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Speakers: Kevin Collins, Dept. Agriculture, Food and the Marine; David Fallon, Irish Water; Tadhg MacIntyre, Maynooth University; Ciaran Fallon, Coillte; Fergus Moore, Dept. Agriculture, Food and the Marine 

3. Building Partnerships for People and Nature – The Shared Island Initiative

Location: Poddle Room, The Printworks

Chairs: Shirley Clerkin, Heritage Officer, Monaghan Co. Co.; Lisa-Dee Collery, Department of the Taoiseach’s Shared Island Initiative

Panellists: Jeanne Moore, National Economic and Social Council; Collette O'Flynn, National Biodiversity Data Centre; Derek McLoughlin, Dept. of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Sara McGuckin, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs – Northern Ireland

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15.00 – 15.30 Break and networking

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Parallel Sessions Group 2

15.30 – 17.00

4. Actions for Nature – NPWS partnerships and initiatives

Location: Plenary Hall, The Printworks

Chair: Ciara Carberry, National Parks & Wildlife Service

Speakers: John Carey, Dept. of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Susan Callaghan, Dept. of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Michael Davoren, The Burren Programme

5. Food, Forests and the Future 2: The role of agriculture in driving nature recovery

Location: Poddle Room, The Printworks

Chair: Ted Massey, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Speakers: Pamela Boyle, Dept. of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; Daire O'hUallachain, Teagasc; Douglas McMilan, Green Restoration Ireland Co-op; Patricia Deane, South Kerry Development Partnership

6. Enhancing the Evidence base : Research and Data4Nature

Location: Bedford Hall Main Room

Chairs: Jane Stout (Trinity College Dublin) and Catherine Farrell (Dept, Housing, Local Government and Heritage)

Speakers: Liam Lysaght, National Biodiversity Data Centre; Aoife Delaney, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage ; John Connolly, Trinity College Dublin; Lisa Coleman, University College Dublin; Maeve Henchion, Teagasc; Danny Norton, University of Limerick; Alice Wemaere, Environmental Protection Agency

7. Places for People and Planet: The role of Zoos, Gardens and Aquaria in supporting the NBAP

Location: Bedford Hall E207/E208

Chair: Andrew Mooney, Dublin Zoo

Speakers: Christoph Schwitzer, Dublin Zoo; Kira Mileham, IUCN Species Survival Commission; Andrea Dempsey, West African Primate Conservation Action; Sean McKeown, Fota Wildlife Park; John Lusby, Birdwatch Ireland; Matthew Jebb, National Botanic Gardens, Dublin

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Afternoon Plenary

Location: Plenary Hall, The Printworks

17.00 – 17.10 Ana María Hernández Salgar, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

17.10 – 18.00 Panel discussion: The Biodiversity Emergency and the Media

Chair: Cara Augustenborg, University College Dublin

18.00 – 18.30 Refreshments and networking

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18.30  Field excursion to Dublin Zoo

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Thursday 9th June 2022

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Morning

Registration opens 08.00; Coffee, tea and refreshments will be served until 9.00am

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Plenary

Location: Plenary Hall, The Printworks

08.00 – 08.45 NBAP Breakfast clinic

Facilitated by KPMG, NPWS, Natural Capital Ireland and Countryscape

 

09.00 – 09.15 Keynote Speech

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, TD

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09.15 – 09.40 Networking

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Parallel Sessions Group 3

09.40 – 11.10

8. Financing Restoration: The role of blended finance in catalysing restoration and investment

Location: Bedford Hall E207/E208

Chair: Shane McGuinness, University College Dublin

Speakers: Paul Chatterton, Landscape Finance Lab; Renee Kervliet-Hermand, IUCN; Suzanne Nally, Dept, of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Adam Gibbon, AXA-IM

9. Communities in Action: Villages, towns, farms, townlands 

Location: Bedford Hall Main Room

Chair: Tina Roche, The Community Foundation for Ireland

Faith Wilson, Ecological Consultant; Fiona McGowan, Ecologist / Community Wetlands Advisor; Chris Uys, Abbeyleix Bog Project; Brigid Barry, Farming For Nature

10. Connecting National Priorities 1: Biodiversity, Culture and Social Well-being

Location: Poddle Room, The Printworks

Chair: Martina Moloney, The Heritage Council

Speakers: Paddy Woodworth, Sanctuary in Nature and Heritage; Audrey Tormey, National Council for the Blind of Ireland; Brendan Dunford, Burren Life; Helen Riddell, Bere Island Conservation; Brian Dunne, Wicklow Uplands Council; Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, University College Dublin; Caitriona Carlin, National University of Ireland, Galway

11. Connecting National Priorities 2: Climate Action and Biodiversity 

Location: Plenary Hall, The Printworks

Chair: Gerry Clabby, Department of Environment and Climate Change

Speakers: Eamon Haughey, Atlantic Technological University; Grace Cott, University College Dublin; Shirley Clerkin, Monaghan County Council; Aileen O'Sullivan, Coillte; Maryann Harris, Dublin City Council, Dublin CARO and NBS Lead 

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11.10 – 11.40 Break

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Parallel Sessions Group 4

11.40 – 13.10

12. Water from Mountains to Coasts: Promoting recovery in freshwater and water-dependent ecosystems

Location: Bedford Hall Main Room

Chair: Colin Byrne, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Speakers: Margaret Keegan, Local Authority Waters Programme; Cormac McConigley, Dept. of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Ciara O'Leary, Fisheries Ireland; Trish Murphy, Inishowen Rivers Trust; Adrian Conway, Local Authority Waters Programme

13. Connecting National Priorities 3: Biodiversity and the Planning System

Location: Plenary Hall, The Printworks

Chair: Enda Mullen, National Parks & Wildlife Service

Speakers: Maeve Flynn, An Bord Pleanala; Henk van der Kamp, Planning consultant; Claragh Mulhern, Dept. of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Annette Lynch, National Parks and Wildlife Service

14. Education & Outreach – Inspiring Public Engagement

Location: Poddle Room, The Printworks

Chair: Ella McSweeney, journalist

Speakers: Virginia Teehan, The Heritage Council; Melinda Lyons, Technical University, Dublin; Liam Lysaght, National Biodiversity Data Centre; Nuala Madigan, Irish Peatland Conservation Council; Maura Kiely, Leave No Trace Ireland; Congella Maguire, Clare County Council

15. Business for Biodiversity: Driving nature-positive business models

Location: Bedford Hall E207/E208

Chair: Lucy Gaffney, Ireland’s Business for Biodiversity Platform

Speakers: Conor Kretsch, Natural Capital Ireland; Cillian McMahon, Business in the Community, Ireland; Mark McCorry, Bord na Mona; Maighread Cremin, Musgraves; Maeve O'Reilly, Gas Networks Ireland; Jean Kennedy, Devenish Foods

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13.10 – 14.10 Buffet lunch

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Closing Plenary

Location: Plenary Hall, The Printworks

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14.10 – 15.00 Panel discussion: Voices for Nature – the role of NGOs

Chair: Karen Ciesielski, Irish Environment Network

Panellists: Pádraic Fogarty, Irish Wildlife Trust; Oonagh Duggan, Birdwatch Ireland; Sadhbh O'Neill, Dublin City University; Michael McCarthy Flynn, Oxfam Ireland; Anabel O'Hora, ECO-UNESCO; Donal Griffin, Fair Seas

15.00 – 15.45 National Biodiversity Forum: Wrap up, Feedback from sessions, and NBF perspectives

Chair: Tasman Crowe, University College Dublin and Chair of the National Biodiversity Forum

15.45 – 16.00 Closing remarks from NPWS

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16.00 – 16.45 Networking and refreshments

16.45 – Departure