Restoration Network Ireland has been very busy in the last couple of months bringing together the thoughts and opinions of those working in the field of restoration in Ireland and beyond. The idea for the network arose when it became apparent that there were several projects underway in Ireland to assist the recovery of habitats and species, with a small number of projects working at the ecosystem and landscape level. However, there is a lack of published information relating to the projects, particularly details of practical elements and some of the more valuable lessons learned through difficulties arising during the work and how these can be surmounted.

Hence the Restoration Network Ireland website. The website will facilitate a project database, and the aspect that may be of most interest to users – a discussion forum whereby issues relevant to restoration of different habitats, species specific projects and/or more general issues such as definitions, sources of funding, etc. relating to restoration can be debated on-line. All relevant contributions are welcome. Remember, the discussions and the project database will only be as good as the contributions from you – so please register, submit your data and let’s get talking and sharing knowledge. One of the features of the network will be to encourage links with our colleagues and counterparts outside of the island of Ireland. Lessons can be learned from restoration projects from all parts of the world, and contributions from the international restoration network are most welcome, particularly the Society of Ecological Restoration (www.ser.org).

Data on all types of restoration projects can be submitted through the website and will be added to the on-line database. All of you working on projects, from the local community level to the larger projects, are encouraged to submit project information. The information will be reviewed by a scientific and technical review committee and subsequently posted on the site. Please read the disclaimer and copyright documents on the Submit Project Data page first – all of the project information posted will be freely accessible through web services, so remember that if you are intending to publish elsewhere.

You are also invited to submit news articles to be posted on the site and details of upcoming events that can be posted on the Forum calendar. Events for inclusion in your diary are a workshop co-organised by Restoration Network Ireland and the International Peat Society (Irish and UK sections) on peatland restoration in Belfast (April 24 th – 25 th) and of course the Landscape Conference organised by the Heritage Council in Tullamore in October. Further details will appear on this page as they arise.

2008 brought us some exciting developments – the Green Infrastructure Conference in Fingal in October was an ambitious attempt to bring ecologists and planners together in a bid to configure biodiversity and nature conservation into urban planning in particular (http://www.fingalcoco.ie/Planning/ConservationHeritage/GreenInfrastructure/). We also saw the launch of the Burren Beo Trust (http://www.burrenbeo.com) in December; and the International Peat Congress in June where up to 500 delegates convened to share ideas and research on peatlands and restoration with a view to future climate change scenarios. The coming year will be as interesting, given the pending funding cuts and the foreboding ‘doom and gloom’ of recession. What better time to get back in touch with what is real, and get practical by bringing back habitats and species that have been marginalised in our environment and breathing life into the Irish landscape.

Watch out for news of the official launch date for the Restoration Network Ireland website and best wishes for 2009.

Catherine Farrell
Restoration Network Ireland