Donal Hickey on why recycling becomes a much bigger job during the festive season.

WITH the urban sprawl unabated, thousands of acres of farmland are giving way to concrete so to meet demands for housing and roads.

A NEW film may go some way towards restoring the seal as a loved and esteemed creature in Ireland.

FINANCIAL incentives should be given to landowners who restore land to provide habitats for endangered species, the Heritage Council has suggested.

A PIECE of salted ling, barely visible among many common and even exotic species in the fish department of Cork’s throbbing English market the other day, evoked memories.

WE could yet pay a high price for failing to protect nature sites.

ON a wet, overcast day in late October, the impression might be that we get hardly any sunshine. But, solar energy in Ireland is not a myth and we are not short of solar energy resources.

THE huge basking shark is the latest creature to be seen moving northwards, another case of wildlife responding to climate changes.

IT'S been a season of mellow fruitfulness, with juicy blackberries, especially, growing in profusion and tasting very good indeed.

A GLANCE at people coming out of supermarkets these days gives an insight into changing attitudes towards waste: the plastic shopping bag has all but disappeared.