'Nature without Borders'- North & South Ireland unite to Restore Native Ecosystems
In a fine example of cross-border cooperation to tackle the Biodiversity Crisis, the 'Friends of Little Woods' in Fermanagh and the Tuatha of Terryland Forest Park have partnered together to create native wildlife habitats.
We gave this all-island initiative the title of 'Nature without Borders'
as an encouragement to others to follow suit and to recognise that only
humans put in the artificial barriers that disconnects humans and the
rest of nature from each other.
The
initial contact between both volunteer groups and the subsequent monies
received as a result of our application under the Community Climate
Action Fund were only made possible thanks to the involvement, advice
and encouragement of Tiarnan Mc Cusker, the hardworking and visionary Community Climate Officer at Galway City Council.
Chris Hillcox of
the Friends of Little Woods last weekend generously hosted a delegation
from the Tuatha to take part in conservation activities (making bird
boxes & setting up a Wildlife Observation Post) as part of the
programme to develop a wet woodland in the Clogher Valley area of county Fermanagh.
It
is hoped that this long-term rewilding project will provide a suitable
habitat to facilitate a gradual migration of flora and fauna across the
locality that are traditionally native to the area including endangered
species such as pine marten and red squirrel.
Photo
shows (L-R) Tobias, Mike and Ruth from the Tuatha with Chris of the
Friends of Little Woods at the bog site in Clabby county Fermanagh.
Families in action at the Terryland Forest Park 'Plantathon 2025'.
A mother (Caitriona) and daughter, a father (Kevin) and son- two families united by a common cause of rewilding Galway city.
A
great crowd of volunteers on a beautiful Saturday undertook important
and wonderful conservation work in Terryland Forest Park as they planted
a heritage orchard, a hedgerow and a woods adjacent to our developing
wetlands.
So
a big thank you to the 80 volunteers of all ages that continued a 25
year tradition of planting trees in Terryland Forest Parks.
Superstars everyone!
As well a clean-up of the woods, meadows and pathways as part of An Taisce's National Spring Clean, volunteers also removed refuse from Terryland River, mulched the park's new fruit bush pocket orchards, and undertook the first mapping of a new 6km blue-green walking/running trail within the park and along the River Corrib/Dyke Road.
On next Saturday (March 29th) , we will be hosting our annual Community Tree Plantathon.
So please join us to celebrate 25 years since the first planting in Terryland Forest Park by creating a hedgerow, a pocket woods and a willow field.
Register at https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/1284820375329?aff=oddtdtcreator
Over the decades, we have held community family picnics, school classes and festivals in this wonderful circle of life.
Yesterday
a small team of Tuatha volunteers working in the park laid the
foundations for a circle of giant toadstools that will form a Fairy Ring to serve as an enchanting forest-themed Outdoor Classroom for the benefit of visiting schools and other groups.
A
circle of fungi is a beautiful natural phenomena in nature that is the
surface representation of a network of small threads, called mycelium,
that form part of what we now refer to as the Wood Wide Web, a mutually beneficial underground communications and resource-sharing system connecting the trees of a forest.
In mythology these mushroom circles were known as Fairy Rings where the 'little people' merrily danced in the woods under the moonlight. WB Yeats mentions this in his poem The Stolen Child:
"...We foot it all the night,
Weaving olden dances
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight..."
The concrete toadstools were made by our good friend, the highly talented Michael McDonnell
of Cumann na bhFear. Their installation and painting will be done over
the next few weeks by the Tuatha volunteers supported by the Just 3 programme of the University of Galway as part of the Galway National Park City initiative.
The first phase of this exciting new creation will be readied later this month in time for the Galway Science and Technology Festival.
Finally,
new volunteers are always welcome every Saturday to help us continue to
develop the park as an Outdoor Classroom, a heritage hub and as a
biodiversity sanctuary.
Rendezvous on Saturday is 10am at An Nead (Irish = The Nest) at the Sandy Road entrance to the Terryland Forest Park. Google map coordinates are: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Gc334KY6JoBt6Fw96
Please Join us this Saturday for our ongoing Wetland restoration project
Sign up at Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/help-create-a-major-wetland-in-galway-city-tickets-1043526003367?aff=oddtdtcreator
As you can see from the photo, the conservation work is coming along nicely. Two islands have been created in the middle of what will be a future 1000 sq metre pond.
We have also installed wan attractive new name stone plate at the entrance to this section of the park. Positioned on a large rock, it includes the name of this habitat in both Irish (Bogaigh) and English (Wetland) as well as a carving of a frog and a bullrush.
Help Create a Major New Wetland for Galway City
On
Saturday next (Oct 5th) we need volunteers to help continue in the process of bringing a whole new
dimension to the multi-habitat Terryland Forest Park in the lead-up to
its 25th birthday celebrations in 2025.
To
complement the park’s native woodlands, native wildflower meadows,
waterways, and karst limestone outcrops, we need as many volunteers as
possible to help lay down the surface of a 1000 square metre pond as the
first step in an ambitious new wetland project, by a partnership between the Tuatha volunteers and Galway City Parks department, that will over the
coming year encompass a wet woodland and marshes as part of a major
nature restoration project for Galway city. This work will be also
include the installation of a viewing platform, a bridge over the
nearby Terryland River and the creation of an adjacent wildlife
sanctuary (free of human footfall).
Register at Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/1034679533337?aff=oddtdtcreator
Rendezvous
Time: 10am - 1pm
Location: ‘An Nead’ (Irish for ‘Nest’ & volunteer HQ), Terryland Forest Park entrance, Sandy Road, Galway City. Google Maps Link-
Requirements: Wear suitable clothing and boots for wet and outdoor conditions.
Volunteer Tasks
Volunteers
tasks will include jumping up and down (to music!) on the recently
excavated pond (thanks to Paula Kearney, Lisa Smyth and Kevin Nally of
Galway City Council Parks Department) in order to compress the soil base
as well as plant locally sourced flora on its raised banks. Last
Saturday international students from the Just 3 initiative in the
University of Galway were introduced to Galway as they began the
pond-making process, by happily foot stomping to world music ranging
from American hip-hop to Irish trad to Punjabi disco!
The
photo shows some of the students jumping up and down on what looks like
a sandy beach in Terryland Forest Park but is in actual fact the
remains of ancient aquatic wildlife that lived in what was once a large
lake or marine environment.
Restoring a lost Wetland
In
the early 1840s, an ambitious plan to build a long dyke wall to
increase the water flow into the city to power mills and distilleries in
Galway city was carried out. The result was the Dyke Road and the
gradual draining of wetlands that existed between Terryland Castle and
Castlegar Castle which transformed over time into farm pasture. A large
part of this area was zoned in the mid 1990s for a future forest park
either side of the remnant of a much larger Corrib catchment, namely the
Terryland River.
The
work of volunteers next Saturday will help restore some of a once
extensive wetland and bring back a population of aquatic flora and fauna
into the community-driven publicly owned forest park managed by Galway
City Council.
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