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ECO EYE ***New Series***

Eco Eye, series 17, Bee CU Image Name: Eco Eye, series 17, Bee CU
Eco Eye, series 17, Orchard bees Image Name: Eco Eye, series 17, Orchard bees
Eco Eye, series 17, Kate Orchard Anja Image Name: Eco Eye, series 17, Kate Orchard Anja
Eco Eye, series 17, Bee CU Image Name: Eco Eye, series 17, Bee CU
Eco Eye, series 17, Bee CU thistle Image Name: Eco Eye, series 17, Bee CU thistle
Eco Eye, series 17, Anja Mid Poll Image Name: Eco Eye, series 17, Anja Mid Poll

Series 17 Synopsis

In the 2019 season of RTÉ’s long-standing series Eco Eye, Duncan Stewart is joined by ecologist Anja Murray and Dr Lara Dungan as they investigate critical environmental issues.

With time running out to stop runaway climate change, challenges presented by rising emissions, increasing sea levels, and warming global temperatures are more important to tackle head-on than ever.  In this season Eco Eye steps back form the arguing and rhetoric on these issues and takes a big picture look at where climate change is headed, what it means for us and what exactly we could do about it. We will discover what barriers lie in the way of taking real action on climate change and what can be done to overcome them.

As well as investigating the best path forward in this new climate reality,  our presenters will explore impactful topics from land to sea, including peatlands restoration, marine pollution, renewable energy, how to save our bees from extinction and barriers to fish migration.

Featuring pioneering research and community projects from around the country, viewers will see what Irish citizens and communities are doing to better their environment, helping to improve their lives and the lives of future generations and what technologies and policies are emerging to help them do that.

Episode 1: Tuesday 8th January, 7PM, RTÉ One
 ‘Plight of the Bumblebee’

– with Anja Murray

In this episode Anja Murray investigates the state of pollinators in Ireland, examining the impact of pesticides, habitat loss and human activity on these essential parts of the ecosystem, as well as discovering possible solutions to their declining prospects.

Pesticides, pollution, habitat loss and climate change are the primary threats facing pollinators. Bee pollination is responsible for much of the world’s food production, without bees much of our food production systems would collapse. But many bees are under serious threat today. In Ireland alone, over half the native species have declined since the 1980s, with 30% are now facing extinction. So what can we do to help save these tiny yet essential creatures?

In this episode presenter Anja Murray will speak to experts like botanist Jane Stout and Dr Dara Stanley to find out the gravity of the situation, learning about the impacts of pesticides, human activity and climate change on our pollinators.

She will find out what regular citizens are doing to save our bees, exploring community projects such as farming schemes which encourage farmers to help increase biodiversity and others such as the Tidy Towns project in Geashill, where citizens have helped to implement habitat protections recommended in the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan.

Anja will also look at citizen scientist projects such as the National Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme with National Biodiversity Centre, where volunteers scour the countryside counting bees to verify their numbers. But can these endeavours make a difference?