March 24th - Woodland walk in Massey Woods

On March 24th the Dublin Branch of IWT brought 70th Porterstown Beaver Scouts on a woodland walk in Massey Woods. The scouts really enjoyed themselves and their leaders sent the Dublin Branch this report telling us about all the nature they saw:

Despite the cold, once we started the hike all the young minds were focused on the wonders of the woods with some general chit chat with their friends! With the cold weather the air borne insects and birds ( we did see one robin!) mostly stayed at home but we found some mayfly larvae and shrimp bugs on the river bed using kick sampling method. We also found some spiders living on the branches of trees using the beating trays and the pooters. We learned about some of the fantastic trees in the woods ( hazel tree - no sign of any nuts - the squirrels did a good job taking the nuts into storage for the winter); king of the forest - sessile oak, the silver birch, the olde Yew tree, the Monterrey pine, the redwood/ sequoia trees and the 'kind of bearded' lime trees ( not to be confused with the ones that actually produce limes) and found out lots of interesting things - there was a dead deer on the path - most likely died of natural causes as deers don't have any predators; red squirrels eat the acorns from pine trees not preferred by grey squirrels, and much more.

We all had a great time - thanks to Roisin, Claire, Niall and Phil for making it so interesting and fun for the Beavers and the 3 cubs who joined us on the hike. Some parents joined us on the hike too - we were all heartened and impressed with the Irish Wildlife Trust Volunteers spending their time with us on a cold Sunday afternoon.

Many thanks.

Yours in Scouting,

Friday night Beaver Scouts - 70th Porterstown

talking about trees

Under the old oak tree

5th March Green Drinks - Sustainable Seas and Badgers

This month Irish Wildlife Trust Dublin Branch heard about the Irish Wildlife Trust's key campaigns for sustainable seas and an end to the cull of Irish badgers.

Sustainable Seas – a lot done more to do
Pádraic Fogarty, IWT Campaigns Officer, outlined the situation so far. The good news is that European fisheries ministers have agreed to end the practice of discards, the wasteful practice of fishermen being forced to throw away any fish they catch for which they do not have a quota. As much as 80% of what a fisherman can catch has to be discarded this way, so banning discards is a big step forward.

The devil is in the detail however, as there are still issues to be worked out. For example, paying fishermen for the discarded catch would create a market, leading to even more overfishing, so the best (or least worst) option is for the fisherman to simply 'donate' the fish free to the state for research. Also, a blanket ban on discards in all circumstances means that a fisherman would have to bring ashore protected species of fish that were still alive, instead of returning them to the sea.

Already the impact of the decision is being limited by the proposed ban only focussing on edible fish species, even though inedible marine life caught up in trawling can be equally important to a healthy marine environment. There has been significant progress towards ending overfishing since the IWT first started our Sustainable Seas campaign in 2010 – but we’re not there yet.

Typical net of a prawn fisherman -
everything that is not prawn has to be discarded
- even though it is most of the catch

Ireland's Badgers - fighting a losing battle?
Fintan Kelly explained the IWT's campaign to end the culling of badger in Ireland, which is meant to prevent BovineTb (Btb). Despite almost continuous culling of badgers for many years, the level of bovine Tb remains stubbornly high. Fintan explained how the level fluctuated more with the intensity of farm inspections than with any change in badger culling, yet despite this the IWT faces an uphill struggle to convince the government to change course in favour of a vaccination programme.

Government lack of action is partly due to hostility from farmers, who are firmly in favour of culling, and partly because trying to achieve pressure at EU level has so far proven to be ineffective.This is despite  Ireland's total disregard for the Bern convention, the failure of the Bern Standing Committee to carry out its mandate to protect the badger, and how the issue is being tackled by our nearest neighbours.

Fintan gave an example of how the Bern convention is being disregarded. While the convention does allow a protected species to be culled if it is a threat to agriculture, it specifies that this must be done with the minimum disturbance to the species. Yet despite this badger culling in Ireland continues all year round, even in breeding season, meaning that adult badgers are being caught, leaving their young to die of starvation underground.

At present 6,000 snares are set for badgers every night. The snares are legal because they do not kill the badger (usually), but they can cause injuries and do cause distress. Hours later in the morning the trapper then comes and shoots the badger. The war on Btb and badgers has always been an emotive issue. It has pitted farmers and conservationists against each other since Btb was first discovered in badgers in the early seventies and no early resolution is in sight.

Badger by Jaroslav Vogeltanz
www.worldnaturephoto.com

5th February Green Drinks - Urban Farm

This month the Irish Wildlife Trust Dublin Branch heard Andrew Douglas (www.urbanfarm.ie) & Paddy O'Kearney (www.citycomposting.ie) chatting about the Urban Farm project. This is Dublin's first urban farm initiative,which attempts to convert a negative space into a tangible benefit for the community. The farm is growing food on a Dublin city center rooftop with indoor aquaponic allotments to enable all season year round growing. With a 400sqm rooftop space and indoor studios, the farm will attempt to grow as much food as possible over the following year.

The farm is run on the principle of CSA or Community Supported Agriculture. How it works is that members contribute to the farm, either financially or through labour, and in return receive a share of the farm's produce. They can choose which way of receiving their share they prefer. This can take the form of collecting the fresh produce weekly, or even having it delivered, or they can call in to pick their own choice and speak to the growers themselves. Members also receive a newsletter and recipes, and can attend workshops and picnics.

The farm is going from strength to strength, with a great demand for its services. The meeting was exceptionally well attended, and Andrew and Paddy were subject to a barrage of interested and engaged (if exhausting!) questions. Andrew and Paddy also talked about their vision of the farm's future, the needs of urban agriculture in Ireland, explaining the farm's growing systems & their methods and inspirations for building Ireland's first roof top urban farm. The crowd were very impressed with their down to earth attitude, mixing business acumen with enthusiasm and idealism.

20th January Bull Island birdwatch

About forty people braved the cold and snow showers on Sunday Jan 20th to attend the IWT Dublin Branch's birdwatching event at Bull Island's causeway. The event was lead by Niall Keogh and Sean Kelly, who brought along a few telescopes for everyone to get a really good look at the wintering birds feeding on the mudflats.  Our persistence was rewarded with a view of some really beautiful birds, including ducks such a group of shelduck, and lots of teal and wigeon. Plenty of waders were in evidence too, such as redshank, sanderlings and godwits. Lapwings, plovers and oystercatchers were on show as well. Also in attendance was a hooded crow/ carrion (black) crow hybrid, which apparently is a regular visitor to that spot over the last few years. Ornithologists are divided on whether the hooded crow and carrion crow are different species or just variations of the same species, and our crow wasn't telling!

But the highlight of the day came near the end, when the cold was beginning to bite. Just by moving a hundred metres up the coast, the group were rewarded by the sight of a flock of pintails, amazing looking birds in their striking black/dark brown and white striped markings. All in all, well worth venturing out into the chill of January!

December 4th Green Drinks - Green Christmas

This month the Irish Wildlife Trust Dublin Branch Green Drinks heard about green, ethical, sustainable and wildlife friendly gifts and options for Christmas, and even had a chance to purchase some of the items. Who says it aint easy being Green?

First Ursula from Klee Paper told us about their 100% recycled and Irish made wrapping paper, cards and toys. Kleepaper source the material for their products from waste or buy locally or through fairtrade. As well as Christmas gifts, Kleepaper make a range of paper, envelopes, notebooks, pads and wooden products like rulers and pencils. All of their products are certified by Blue Angel, European Eco-label, or FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). One of Kleepaper's customers, Natasha was also on hand to tell us about her range of homemade Christmas Star decorations made from hawthorn twigs sourced in County Meath.

Next Kaethe Burt O'Dea from the LIFE project talked about LifeLine Soaps and give us a brief project update. The soaps are made from high quality leftover cooking oil, and contains scented herbs locally grown from compost or foraged from the locality (like rosehips). Finally Andreas Birk from www.carbonstory.org spoke about the CarbonStory project which is all about how people can offset their carbon footprint. The project works by calculating the carbon footprint of each member and allowing them to buy credits by contributing to an environmental project - either renewable energy, carbon capture, reforestation or greater energy efficiency projects. Food for thought and a different Christmas gift.

Games from Kleepaper

15th November Dublin Branch Pub Quiz!

The Dublin Branch of IWT held a pub quiz on the 15th November last at the Lombard pub, right next to Pearse Street station. There was a fantastic turnout on the night with over twenty tables - so competition was fierce! Topics ranged from science to entertainment to geography, to match the quote with the famous person, and the penalty for sneaky googling on the mobile phone was €5, so brainpower only could be used. Along with free food there were cool spot prizes throughout the night (like free Starbucks coffee) for knowing important stuff, like the names of all the Bond Girls, or who wrote the theme music for Father Ted! There was also a raffle for more cool things (we got a few singular donations) and the winning team got loads of food and drink to help them stock up for Christmas! A great night was had all round and an amazing total of €860 was earned for the IWT! Well done to organizers Kate and Debbi!

11th November Killiney Strand Walk

On Sunday 11th November about 30 people from Dublin IWT turned out on a crisp November day to join marine and wetland expert Tim Clabon for a strand walk on Killiney beach. Tim first showed the group how the seaweed oar wrack can cling tightly onto the smallest rock, using a kind of adhesive and a network of tiny roots. He also showed the group several species of crab, including velvet swimming crab, edible crab and porcelain crab. Other creatures encountered were leaf worms, and a gunnel - a kind of eel-like fish. Tim also found a dead sponge, cracking it open to show the gooey, decaying middle complete with tiny worms. Some of the adults were less than impressed by this, but the kids loved it! A dead dogfish, complete with aroma, completed the day. The dogfish is a member of the shark family, and the resemblance can be seen in its shape. The group then returned to the DART station, considerably better informed, and a few new members were signed up - so a good day all round!

Tim showing how oar wrack clings to rocks 

Tim with velvet swimming crab

Tim with sponge

Dead dogfish. Dogfish is a kind of shark