Woodlands of Ireland held a lunchtime webinar to mark the first day of National Biodiversity Week 2026 on Friday May 15th 2026. The webinar, ‘Carlow Catchments Hedgerow Survey Results & Ash and Elm Research Updates in Ireland‘ featured two presentations over the course of the hour. The first presentation focused on the ‘Carlow Catchments Hedgerow Survey’ with Neil Foulkes, Hedge Conservation and Management specialist and Joe Gowran, CEO of Woodlands of Ireland. And the second presentation focused on ‘Ash and Elm in Ireland: Protecting and Restoring Our Native Trees Together’ with Dheeraj Rathore of the Teagasc Forest Development Department.
Carlow Catchments Hedgerow Survey:
This presentation looked at the methodology applied and some of the key findings from the 2025 field survey, with some unexpected results on the frequency of Spindle. Woodlands of Ireland was commissioned by the Carlow County Council Biodiversity Officer Shane Casey to run a three-year project (2024 – 2026) looking at how the county’s hedgerows and other wooded lands can contribute to improving water quality and biodiversity. Year 2 involved a field survey of hedgerows and other wooded lands in the Burren and Mountain river catchments. The survey results report was presented to the Council in February 2026. Public engagement activity will take place locally in the coming months. During the summer of 2025 field recording of hedgerows was carried out using a bespoke methodology based on the standard methodology of the Hedgerow Appraisal System of 95 hedgerows in two river catchments, the Burren and the Mountain. These samples were selected from 49 1km x 1km squares (40 in the Burren catchment and 9 in the Mountain catchment). The squares and hedges were identified on the basis of having the potential to impact positively on water quality based on Environmental Protection Agency Pollution Impact Potential mapping. Reports from the project will be available from Carlow Co Co once the project is finalised. Discover more about the Hedge Project.
Ash and Elm in Ireland: Protecting and Restoring Our Native Trees Together:
Dheeraj gave details on how Ash and Elm are iconic parts of Ireland’s landscape, yet both face serious threats from disease. This webinar presentation explored why conserving these species matters for biodiversity, heritage, and future forests, what research is underway to support their recovery, and how citizens can play an active role in identifying and protecting resilient trees.
Discover more about the AshForFuture project.
Webinar Playback:
You can watch the webinar playback below:
Woodlands of Ireland Supporter Membership
For anyone supportive of our work to promote the conservation, active management and expansion of native woodlands on the island of Ireland, you can now become a Supporter Member of Woodlands of Ireland. This means joining an all-island community of people who care deeply about our woodland’s ecological heritage.
Your support directly contributes to ensuring that Woodlands of Ireland continues to promote the protection, restoration, and active management of Ireland’s native woodlands through our training events, workshops, field trips, conferences and other networking gatherings.
See the four options available from Individual, eNgos/Community groups, to Student/Concession and Corporate/Institutional members
Charity number: 20079079 | Company number: 499781
Woodlands of Ireland is grateful for the core funding we receive from the Heritage Council, National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.