Pagan Hibernia

Stunning, and magical, and no doubt something that the late Manchán Magan would have appreciated

Agreed 👍

Do you have ash trees in your forest Eoghan? If so, how are they doing?

Early days but there's some encouraging signs on that score

100%.

Agreed Annie but what's the solution?

It doesn't come naturally to me to want to see any living thing killed but the impact they (but not only they) are having on irish biodiversity and nature is devastating

That's great, really good and helpful tips, thank you 😊

My father fenced off a small piece of farm land in fermanagh in the year 2000 and, by and large, it's still just a mass of nettles, briars and brambles 25 years later. There's no grazers getting in. What can we do to encourage the growth of woodland without planting?

The problem with that is a lot of the plants that are already there (in ireland anyway) aren't native to the area

Maybe, but chapter 13 of your book, 'Three revolutions, three extinction waves', certainly must put us near the top of the most destructive species table. I suppose i always bought into the romantic idea of people living in harmony with nature and had no idea our ancient ancestors did so much damage

Nothing would surprise me. Those who do very well out of the status quo will do anything to keep it

Even when things seem futile, try and keep the optimism of your Costa Rica trip in mind. Things can change. It just requires mass education and you're at the forefront of that.

All of that is true, but the fact absolutely nothing has been done to reverse or rectify the situation after over a century of (partial) independence is a scandal. That's on successive Irish governments.

Scotland are a million miles ahead of us in their rewilding efforts too. If they can't do it, what chance Ireland? Sometimes it really does feel futile

Hope your rainforest hasn't taken too much of a battering this morning. Obviously fallen trees continue to live on in other ways but it would be a shame. Belfast is currently being hammered.

If you're interested in the fight to save the last of Ireland's old woodlands - the Wildlife Manual #153 is a fantastic document - although very depressing reading as we continue to lose our oldest woodlands and fail to protect them:
www.npws.ie/sites/defaul...

Lovely epiphytes last week in fermanagh