Inis Environmental Consultants Ltd.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from all of us at Inis Environmental Consultants Ltd. and RSK Ireland Ltd. On the 17 of March, we celebrate the rich culture, community, and heritage of Ireland — values that are deeply woven into who we are and the work we do every day. Whether you’re enjoying a parade, spending time with loved ones, or simply taking a moment to celebrate, we wish you a joyful and meaningful day. Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh! Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all! #StPatricksDay #RSKIreland #InisTeam #IrishRoots #CommunitySpirit

Recently the Inis Environmental Consultants Ltd. bat team invited some of our ecologist colleagues from RSK Netherlands to join us on a visit to a Lesser horseshoe Bat roost and to share ideas on bat mitigation. We will visit Tom and Romeyn Vooijs in the Netherlands soon to review some of their bat mitigation projects which sound extremely interesting with novel ideas for the provision of bat roosting spaces on high rise buildings. Our visit focused on the mitigation measures for bats employed on large-scale construction projects . Our team also explored the techniques used in designing and implementing these mitigation measures. A big thank you to everyone involved on this insightful and collaborative session! 🦇 The bat roost we visited was an old schoolhouse repurposed as a maternity roost and hibernaculum for Lesser horseshoe bats as part of the M18 Ennis Bypass Project. Its great to be able to share information and work together with another RSK Group company who are completing similar work on the continent. #Conservation #LesserHorseshoeBat #BatTraining #EnvironmentalMitigation #INISEnvironmental #RSKNetherlands #Sustainability

Loop Head Lighthouse redevelopment Loop Head Lighthouse, a historic landmark along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, is set for redevelopment to improve visitor experience while preserving its sensitive habitats and diverse wildlife. The project, led by Clare County Council, includes a new visitor centre, café, expanded car park, and looped walking trails, all designed to minimize environmental impact. As part of this effort, Ecologists from RSK Group company Inis Environmental Consultants Ltd. undertook a range of sensitive species surveys, including a boat-based census of the internationally important seabird colony on the headland, as well as carrying out the Appropriate Assessment, including writing the Natura Impact Statement for the development. With planning approval secured, the project is now moving towards the funding stage, with construction carefully scheduled to avoid disruption to wildlife. Read more about the environmental measures and redevelopment plans here: https://lnkd.in/dTZpcYsQ #LoopHeadLighthouse #WildAtlanticWay #InisEnvironmental #ClareCounty#RSK

St. Brigid’s Bank Holiday As we prepare for the St. Brigid’s Bank Holiday, our Inis Environmental Consultants Ltd. office team took the time to create some traditional St. Brigid’s Day crosses, celebrating heritage and teamwork. A wonderful way to mark the occasion! ☘️ #StBrigidsDay #TeamSpirit #IrishTradition#rskgroup #rskfamily

🚗 Safety Month 2025: Driving Safety Forward 🚗 We’re excited to share that we successfully concluded RSK Group Safety Month 2025 on January 10th, with this month’s focus on safe driving. Safety is a core value at Inis Environmental Consultants Ltd. and this initiative reinforced our commitment to protecting our teams and communities. Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to making this campaign a success. Let’s keep safety at the forefront—every month, every day. #SafetyMonth2025 #DrivingSafety #WorkplaceSafety #rskgroup #rskfamily

Did you know that kingfishers are incredibly territorial? Our team at Montrose Basin Wildlife Reserve and Visitor Centre captured this clip of a resident male kingfisher defending his patch from a juvenile intruder! Check out this blog from Joanna at Montrose Basin to find out more about kingfishers. 👇 https://lnkd.in/dFeD8n7A

Eurasian Sparrowhawk migrating at Falsterbo, Sweden last week. More than 500 Sparrowhawks were recorded migrating last Saturday at Falsterbo. Falsterbo lies at the south-westernmost tip of Sweden, and is one of the most iconic bird migration watchpoints in Europe. Every autumn, around 500 million migratory birds pass over southern Sweden, and Falsterbo is the perfect location to watch and study these birds. Inis Environmental Consultants Ltd. Ecology Team members visit Falsterbo each year to study birds and in particular to study ageing and sexing of raptors and wetland birds. #migration #birdsurveys

Ireland’s Environment 2024🌎 #Ireland #Environment #EPA #Budget2025 #biodiversity The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have just published “Ireland’s State of the Environment Report 2024” (https://lnkd.in/euVb8kZa) and it makes for challenging reading. Although all aspects of Ireland’s environment are facing issues, it is climate and, particularly, biodiversity that are considered to be under the greatest threat where identified, legislative targets are unlikely to be met. For Ecologists, this sadly comes as no surprise.; however, as indicated in the Foreword by Laura Burke (EPA Director General): “I urge you to read this report: this is your country, your environment, and safeguarding it is not optional – it is essential.” Everyone needs to be more aware of our environment. Although meeting future targets on climate change and biodiversity protection are very challenging, that is no excuse to ignore them. The €172m announced for nature and heritage in Budget 2025 last week may go part-way to meeting some targets. Although we are still awaiting Ireland’s National Restoration Plan, the implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Law is another, welcome step that will see 20% of ecosystems restored by 2030. However, most importantly, we need people to engage with their environment – to understand the issues, processes, and solutions to the challenges we face. In other words, we need more ecologists! Inis Environmental Consultants Ltd. are at the forefront of supporting our clients to deliver nature positive solutions on their projects, from small scale building renovations to Strategic Infrastructure Developments, including many renewable energy projects that will also assist in meeting our climate targets. Navigating environmental legislation, mitigating ecological risk and future-proofing our client’s projects to ensure delivery against future environmental targets are core to our work. Together, we strongly believe that this approach will contribute to a better environment in Ireland for everyone to enjoy. https://lnkd.in/eYdsJ-pZ

A Year of Bats🦇🦇🦇 #Bat #Monitoring #Ireland #Chiropterist #Hibernacula You don’t need to be a Chiropterist to enjoy the latest report on the status of Ireland bats, just published by Bat Conservation Ireland (https://lnkd.in/edbKKpbi). This is essential reading for any ecologist working in Ireland to understand and protect these fantastic flying mammals. Overall, 2023 looks to have been a good year for bats. Despite the wet summer, higher-than-average temperatures indicated increasing numbers of bats being recorded, with continued stable or increasing trends for many species. In particular, Lesser Horseshoe Bat (the only bat species in Ireland specially protected under the EU Habitats Directive) saw continued increases, with an amazing 24 new sites found in 2023 alone. Although the bat survey work at INIS winds down over the winter, the chance to go through the data collected over the summer from the static detectors is always exciting. That said, with a single bat detector pulling in upwards of 10,000 calls over a 10-day deployment, a strong cup of coffee is often recommended when looking at the sonograms to identify and tabulate species occurrence! As a result, the winter hibernacula surveys being undertaken are always a very welcome distraction for the INIS Bat Team, so if you have a winter bat roost needing surveyed, please let us know!

Whimbrel 🕊 There are many signs that autumn is upon us: the slow change in the colour of the leaves; the drawing in of the nights or the appearance of winter migrant birds – all are heralds of the changing season. As Ecologists, we are perhaps more sensitive to the changing seasons than most, with our focus changing form “summer” fieldwork, such as breeding bird, bat activity or botanical surveys to “winter” fieldwork, including winter bird or mammal surveys. Of course, whilst many are perhaps sorry to see the passing of the season (although it seems unlikely than anyone would be sorry to see the end of this summer!), for Ecologists there is always something to look forward to as the season changes. One great example of this is the Whimbrel. Whimbrel are an unusual species in Ireland – they neither nest here nor (except in a few very rare and exceptional cases) spend the winter here: they are a true passage migrant, flying through Ireland in spring from their wintering grounds in western Africa to nest to the north of Ireland (a few breed in northern Scotland and Shetland, but most breed within the Arctic Circle), then returning in autumn on their journey south again. Resembling a slightly small and “thin” Curlew, with a shorter bill and diagnostic central crown stripe, they have a distinctive piping call that often reveals their presence on passage. Good numbers occur along the River Shannon corridor, as well as at traditional intertidal sites on the coast, such as the bird photographed here from one of our bird ringing sessions on the Shannon Estuary in Co. Clare. For many, this piping herald of autumn is a great sign that our wintering birds, including waders, geese, and swans, are all on their way back to spend the winter in Ireland and ‘brighten’ those somewhat shorter days. https://lnkd.in/eWbwReEx #rskfamily,migration, birdsurveys.