Programme
Below is the programme for National Biodiversity Conference 2022 'Act Now For Nature' in Dublin Castle, June 8&9th.
(Note: Some changes may occur - a digital version of the programme will be accessible online to registered attendees and we will endeavour to keep attendees updated of any changes via our online portal - check for link to join in your email/spam folder.)
Read on below or click the Biodcon22 button to download a pdf of the 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