Biodiversity action plans are ultimately about turning knowledge and ambition into practical action, but communicating that work clearly is an important part of the process too. A well-designed publication can make a complex environmental strategy more accessible, memorable and engaging for the people who will encounter it.
I was therefore delighted to contribute to the Meath Biodiversity Action Plan 2025–2030, creating the visual design and a suite of creative wildlife illustrations for Meath County Council.
The project came through the county's biodiversity officer, who approached me after seeing the visual approach I had developed for the cover of Wild Wonders, an anthology of short nature stories for children. The brief was to create something with a similar symbolic and narrative quality, rather than using purely realistic natural-history illustrations.
Creating a visual language for biodiversity
This was an interesting departure from some of my more observational wildlife illustration work.
Instead of simply depicting individual species as accurately as possible, I was asked to develop illustrations that could communicate broader ideas about habitats, ecological relationships, and biodiversity. The images needed to work conceptually as well as visually, conveying the themes of the Biodiversity Action Plan without relying entirely on written explanation.
The biodiversity officer provided guidance on the key elements that needed to appear in the illustrations and their overall arrangement. I then developed the compositions, wildlife artwork and final visual treatment, integrating them into the design of the Plan.
This collaborative process allowed the illustrations to respond directly to the strategy's content while retaining a distinctive visual identity.
From individual species to interconnected ecosystems
One of the things I enjoy most about biodiversity projects is that they require us to look beyond individual animals.
A bird, mammal, insect or plant can be visually striking on its own, but biodiversity is really about relationships: between species, habitats, landscapes and people. The illustrations for the Meath Biodiversity Action Plan therefore take a more conceptual approach, using wildlife and natural elements as visual components within larger compositions.
This also gave me the opportunity to explore a different side of wildlife illustration. Rather than treating the animal as the finished subject, I could use it as part of a visual story.
Illustration and design working together
In addition to creating the wildlife illustrations, I contributed to the visual design of the Biodiversity Action Plan.
This is an important part of my practice. My background in graphic design and creative direction means that I naturally think about illustration in relation to the wider communication project: how an image interacts with typography, how a page guides the reader, and how visual elements can help organise and explain information.
For a document such as a biodiversity action plan, design has a particularly practical role. The publication needs to include substantial information while remaining approachable for people who may not have a specialist background in ecology or conservation.
The illustrations provide moments of visual interest, but they also help establish a clear identity for the Plan and create a stronger connection between the strategic information and the natural world it is ultimately intended to protect.
A long-term plan for Meath's biodiversity
The Meath Biodiversity Action Plan 2025–2030 sets out a framework for biodiversity protection and restoration across County Meath over five years.
Being involved in the visual development of a document with such a practical purpose was particularly rewarding. Unlike an artwork created simply to be viewed, these illustrations form part of a publication intended to support real-world biodiversity work over the coming years.
This is exactly the kind of applied creative work I enjoy: projects where illustration and design have a clear purpose and contribute to something beyond the artwork itself.
A growing area of my practice
The Meath project sits alongside my work on biodiversity action plans, interpretation boards, educational publications, murals and other environmental communication projects.
Across these different formats, I’m interested in finding ways to make Irish biodiversity more visible, understandable and engaging. Sometimes that means creating highly detailed natural-history drawings; sometimes it means taking a more conceptual approach and using wildlife as part of a larger visual narrative.
This project was a particularly good example of the latter, allowing me to combine wildlife illustration, graphic design and visual storytelling in support of a significant local biodiversity initiative.
Each of the large illustrations I created for the action plan has also been used on postcards given away at the action plan's launch. Below are some of them:
1. 'Bending the biodiversity curve, helping wildlife to flourish.' I was suggested to create an illustration implementing the biodiversity curve, and I came up with a concept to use a soft and flexible willow branch being lifted by a hand – to suggest that we're able to reverse the biodiversity loss Ireland has been experiencing for many years now. The curve is divided into three parts: the past on the left, the present in the middle, and the hopeful future on the right. I made sure I listed the animals on the left according to their timeline, so nothing is random there; maybe apart from what's happening in the air ;)
2. 'Reconnecting people with nature'
3. 'Meath County Council leading by example, being proactive in planning, protecting and providing space for nature'
> To see photos from the launch, click here.
> The Plan itself can be downloaded from Meath County Council's website here.
