I'm delighted to be launching this project that I've been working on for the last 2 years which is an attempt to get to the heart of our biodiversity crisis. The first full instalment will come out next Friday but the trailer is now on the IWT website...
Here's my top 10 good news stories for nature from 2022, yes there has been good news!
1. Cranes are successfully breeding in Ireland for the first time in 300 years! Shows the power of rewilding 🍾
(📸Karol Waszkiewicz)...
From tomorrow it is legal to cut hedges as the bird nesting season is over for another year. But hedges are full of berries, bees and other insects are flying and there are still some flowers, birds are fattening up for winter, wildlife needs this bounty so cutting should wait
No government programs, no 'schemes', no dollops of public money. Take away the grazing animals and the forest springs out of the ground - rapid & effective climate/biodiversity action at near zero cost. Too easy?
I'm mystified. Why is the media not freaking out about the *complete collapse* of bird life on our island??
I checked
@rtenews
... nothing
Species that have been here for thousands of years are being exterminated and the reaction is mostly... meh.
wtf
If I told you this was a tropical country that had been deforesred to produce meat for export at enormous ecological cost... you'd probably be horrified
But it's Ireland, and here we put it on our postcards
We don't need to plant 1 million trees, or 10 million or 3 billion - we need to restore forest ecosystems and give nature the time and space to get on with it
If you're thinking of cutting down on flying but still like to travel this is my rendering of how far you get from Dublin in one and two day's travel. Much of the continent is accessible with one overnight stay in either Paris or Brussels. Amsterdam also reachable without an o/n
Low carbon travel from Ireland is that bit easier now that
@BrittanyFerries
takes foot passengers on its Rosslare-Bilbao route. High speed connection gets me to Madrid tonight for only €18.50 for the 400km journey 🇪🇸
Last week I wrote a blog for the IWT website in which I accused Irish farm organisations of "lurching to the far right". I stand over that assessment, indeed seeing the performance in the JOC last week, the attacks on the integrity of the EPA, and Tim Cullinane telling RTE that..
This is what I mostly see when I travel around Ireland - a biodiversity desert. A landscape that's ruthlessly hostile to any life form that does not directly create income or entertainment.
Yes wolves are a long shot, but imagine a bumblebee trying to survive in this landscape
This photo from BnM shows something incredible - Ireland's new rewilded landscape of the Midlands. Entirely spontaneously generated forests and wetlands which were dead but are now full of life, including the amazing cranes. There's potential for lots more of this!
Fantastic webinar from
@BWIFingal
&
@BordnaMona
yesterday on how the crane found its way back to Ireland after 300 years - now present on three different bogs!
All it took was for the machines to fall silent.
#rewilding
Some things just have to end completely - clear felling, bottom trawling, peat mining, monocultures, arterial drainage, supertrawlers, sheep on peatlands, pumping raw sewage into the sea... to name a few
The Irish state's badger killing programme is barbaric. Last year 5,187 were snared and shot. There is no closed season so mothers are shot even when dependent young are helpless in the sett. We can't even say it's bringing down TB rates in cattle.
We'll have to explain to our children how we used public money to pay people to use petrol leaf blowers to remove leaves from grass when the worms would do it for free
Jackie Cahill (FF) is chair of the Agriculture Committee, here chairing a session on water quality & the Nitrates derogation. He's also a dairy farmer in derogation & opened the session saying it's "hugely important to my own business"
Surely this is a gross conflict of interest?
Ireland's other Atlantic forest is actually in the Atlantic!
Likely as biodiverse, vitally important for climate and just as in need of urgent protection as the remains of our forests on land
Instead of Coillte going to private pension funds why isn't the government coming up with a land purchase fund to create new forests and community nature reserves?
Immigration is one of the best things ever to happen to Ireland. Despite our housing & environmental problems, the stale, religiously oppressive and deadly boring Ireland of the 80s is a place I'd never want back.
#JustSaying
All I want is clean water to swim in and a native forest, accessible by public transport, that starts at the foothills of the Dublin mountains and stretches deep into Wicklow. Some wolves would also be nice.
In recent years we've learned that ⅔ of our birds are heading for extinction as are ⅓ of bees. Butterflies ⬇️ 38% since only 2008!
You'd expect the collapse of ecosystems to be headline news all day every day!
One of the largest fishing vessels in the world is once again off our coast. We have no idea what they're at as there are effectively no controls.
Industrial fishing is way worse than Russian naval exercises because it's going on *all the time*
I've just finished reading Eoghan's (
@IrishRainforest
) book which will be out soon. It's a wonderful love letter to his own forest but also a heart-felt plea for the return of Ireland's rainforest and rewilding in general. A great read!
This is what 'small scale' peat mining looks like... in a National Park.... and a Special Area of Conservation... and a Special Protection Area (Donegal). All illegal of course... but shure it's just a few bags o'turf what harm...
3. New rules coming into force today mean farmers will not be penalised for having natural habitat on their land 🎉 Up to half of a farm can be rewilded without losing subsidy payments, taking huge pressure off some of the last places for nature...
Instead of pretty pictures of stacked sods of turf, media should portray the reality of peat excavation. They can use this photo for free if they want, be my guest!
For some, the biggest problem with rewilding is that it's too easy, too cheap, too effective.
It seems many people prefer ideas that are complicated, bureaucratic, costly and which allow people to decide which plants and animals should be allowed to go where
This may not look extraordinary but a year ago, the floor of this forest was just dead leaves. Over the winter the NPWS installed a fence around the Derryclare Nature Reserve to exclude trespassing sheep. The forest floor has since erupted in plant life...
So half the birds in the world are heading for extinction. As usual Ireland is ahead of the game where 63% of all our bird species are red or amber listed
We need to challenge the idea that "we are an island and must fly if we want to go anywhere". And if you, like me, want to reduce your carbon footprint, snail-rail rather than flying is significantly lower impact.
I left Dublin on Friday and am on the way to Sweden... 1/🧵
Forestry is increasingly looking like a scandal. The tiny green dot indicates how much of a role rewilding is set to play in our new Forest Strategy, compared to yet more conifer plantations (yellow). This will cost taxpayers €1.3 billion over 5 yrs...
(Image:
@Lauratreehugger
)
Unbelievable that we're going to be saddled with killer-chemical glyphosate for another decade. More unbelievable that no restrictions at all apply to its sale to non-farmers in Ireland.
This is such good news - the first young cranes to fledge the nest in Ireland in more than 400 years!
Nature is standing by - we just need to give it some space and time
The tragedy about today's news that wildlife populations have declined by 69% since 1979 is that it's scarcely even news. No mention on the home pages of Irish media outlets.
How can we go straight from shock to resignation, bypassing the cries for action?
#LivingPlanetReport
The Irish Times is at it again with photos of turf cutting using hand tools when the reality is diggers and hoppers and heavy excavators. This is illegal, industrial activity that is destroying the common heritage of Irish people.
Where are the forests and the wetlands that slow and regulate the flow of water off land?
the rivers have been straight-jacketed. Floods are a phenomenon of nature, but nature has nowhere to go!
It's worth repeating, agriculture/food systems are responsible for:
•80% of deforestation
•29% of GHG emissions
•70% of freshwater use
•70% of terrestrial biodiversity loss
•50% of freshwater biodiversity loss
•66% of ocean negatively affected, mostly by fishing
#COP15
Imagine if we could move beyond sheep and sitka spruce in our uplands:
• no more fires
• clean air & water
• stunning amenity
• helping to meet climate targets
• abundant nature
• traditional farming
• diverse economies
• healthy bogs and forests
• beauty, peace
It's not an exaggeration to say that every week brings new insights to the absolute catastrophe we are facing. Yet some politicians put all their effort into making sure nothing is done about it...
5. 2022 was a bad year for ecocidal maniacs. Bolsonaro is gone and has fled Brazil, Scot Morrisson in Australia was sent packing, Marine lePen in France lost... again, and Trump is bunched. More democracy please!
It's good to remind ourselves now and again that this is the gear used to plough up the seafloor in order to get scallops onto diners' plates.
It's astonishing that this is still allowed to go on
People say they love nature. And yet everything from allowing the lawn at Trinity College go to seed, or the idea that we might give nature some space and time, is greeted with vehement howls of resistance
Unfortunately I find myself again objecting to a wind farm, this time on a bog in Donegal. No lessons learned from 2020 Meenbog landslide & right beside an SAC salmon river. If it was really emissions we were concerned about we would be restoring bogs not building on them
The South American beef and soy barons are up in arms about a new EU law that prohibits imports of certain commodities linked to illegal deforestation. It may make animal feed imports more expensive in Ireland, which would be a good thing
I watched a hungry bumblebee flying around a garden this morning, looking in vain for a meal, bypassing the daffodils. Dandelions are absolutely critical now if these bees are not to starve to death, the least we can do is not mow them!
"It’s ecological illiteracy. They can’t read the landscape they’re looking at. That is a completely barren landscape. It is biologically empty”
Eoghan's incredible work is teaching us that our landscape really shouldn't look the way it does
My homemade hedgerow is only 4m long but fits a hawthorn, hazel, guelder rose, field rose, ivy and self-seeded elder as well as raspberries. You don't need a lot of space to make a lot of space for wildlife
#NoMowMay
Just because this giant ash is now horizontal does not mean it ceases to be important for biodiversity. In fact the opposite is the case. Nor is it litter or a safety hazard. Some education would go a long way so that these important features can be kept in public places
Today's fishing activity from
@MarineTraffic
You can see the 'wall of death' stretches from Iceland to Portugal - the entire Atlantic seaboard is being sieved of life and the fish really don't care less what flag is flying on the boat...
I have a challenge for the people of Ireland!
The next few weeks will see one of the greatest spectacles of nature in our native forests as carpets of flowers come into bloom 🌼
It's an amazing experience so, go visit your nearest native forest and marvel in the wonder of it!
I visited England's Peak District recently, what's most obvious to an Irish visitor is the huge network of off-road paths and trails, along rivers and through woods but mostly farmers fields
I could do a top 100 reasons to despair in 2023 but here's my top 10 good news stories for nature this year:
1. Has to be the passing of the Nature Restoration Law. What a battle it was but we now have a basis to turn the tide for nature in the 🇪🇺 🙌
in biker jackets. But these days they wear suits and have pr companies and put a lot of effort into sounding reasonable and respectable. Across Europe, rural communities are being especially targeted with a flood of messages that climate/biodiversity action means taking away...
Not sure why people are shocked by this. Coillte's only priority is to make money. That's the job it's been given by the government and only the government can change it
2. We started 2022 with just over 2% of our seas designated for nature but ended with 8.3%! Designation is a vital step towards actual protection but we now have
@FairSeasIreland
stepping up pressure to protect 30% of sea by 2030. We are making progress!
This is such an important thread. I've been on the government's 'Project Woodland' for over a year. I've seen nothing to suggest that Ireland's forestry industry recognises the climate and biodiversity crisis except in so far as it might be a business opportunity...
On my (
@IrishRainforest
) second last day on this account, I want to talk about the big lie that is Irish 'forests'.
One of these is a forest, one of them most definitely is not.
One covers around 1% of Ireland, the other 10%.
I went to visit a farmer today who wants to rewild his land. He is surrounded by shiny green fields but his land is a sanctuary for nature. He gets no subsidies but we should be rewarding him for the great service he provides.
#rewilding
@EU_ENV
The IFA wants the Nature Restoration Law to be paused... but for what? So that 100% of habitats are in bad condition? So that all the birds, bees and fish are nearly extinct?
We've paused long enough, now is the time to do something!
wow - two years in prison and €115,000 find for a hunter who shot a lynx. Spanish authorities not messing around when it comes to wildlife crime. Unlike the paltry fines here!
Matar deliberadamente especies en peligro de extinción no sale gratis.
"Dos años de cárcel y 115.000 euros para un cazador por matar a un lince con escopeta en Badajoz" vía
@el_pais
We've been told for years that these fires were caused by tourists, people bbq'ing in the middle of bogs or fragments of broken glass lying about.
I suppose now we know it's none of those things.
This stunning display of ragwort comes after countless days of inaction, an intensely lackadaisical approach to garden maintenance and a studied inattention to neighbourly norms
8. Across Europe wildlife is making a comeback. Less hunting, greater legal protection, more space for nature are bringing back large animals. Even in Ireland we're starting to talk about large predators in a way that was unthinkable only a few years ago🐺
Supertrawlers, sitka spruce, sheep on peatlands, intensive dairying, river drainage schemes, pair trawling the life out of estuaries... all promoted and subsidised through our taxes
Remarkable achievement when you think it, that Ireland destroyed more of its wetlands than anywhere else. And it hasn't stopped, there's still illegal peat mining in 'Special Areas of Conservation'
9. The EU is stepping up efforts to hold member states like Ireland to account for biodiversity collapse with a proposed new law that will set legally binding targets for the restoration of species and habitats 👊 This is great news for people as well!
"Now it's time for us to hold up our hands and admit that we've been part of the problem for too long". So honest
@coilltenews
had it scrubbed from
@IrishTimes
website 🙈
Strange patterns on the hills, machines mowing the heather for sheep. It seems like we're willing to try any solutions to our land problems except the ones that are most obvious or likely to work. It's ludicrous.
The freshwater pearl mussel is probably Ireland's longest-lived animals (>100yrs) and is also one of the most endangered. It is found in 150 rivers but is only believed to be producing young in 4...
I was due to debate Pat McCormack of the ICMSA this afternoon on RTE but due to the changes made to the blog the format was altered. I would, of course, be more than happy to debate Pat or Tim or Vincent or any of the lads on why I've accused them of lurching to the far right.
The absolute state of the Wicklow/Dublin Mountains yesterday. Burnt, drained, littered, ugly, lifeless bar the sheep and polluting air & water. This is a National Park! It should be the pride of the nation yet it's a total embarrassment.
The Wild Atlantic Way is great n'all, but it does say something that we decided to develop a driving route rather than a walking route that would be lower impact, healthier and benefit locals as well as tourists
What an amazing drawing - look at how important Ireland is for migrating whales! One reason why we need Marine Protected Areas and proper management of other activities across the ocean 🐳