The invasive Wiggly Wigglers

Not of Irish stock but deserving of mention is the invasive Heather of the family Wiggly wiggler. The Wiggly wigglers have invaded my commutes, driven out my agrestic ignorance, preyed on my interest in hedgerows and made extinct Ireland's once prevalent species Boredom commuting. An intriguing species, the Wiggly Wigglers display a weekly ritual of bonding by infighting and feasting on honey and they insist on equal rights to rant for each member of the family group.

This reluctant urbanite now knows more than she ever thought she could.... about ploughing. And hedgerows. And honey. And pondlife. And, crucially, about how falling off ladders can be very, very funny. Ok, so I concede to breaking Only One Ireland's Irish-posts-only bloglaw by doing this but, since the Wiggly wigglers podcast arrived here on the great ship iPod, Only One Ireland's environment has been enriched. So this is an Irish shout-out to Heather, Farmer Phil, Ricardo and the rest of the Heredfordshire Wiggly Wigglers. I hope you can hear me above your current debate (it's about cats...).

• Read Heather's Wiggly Wiggler blog (yes, we do have the same taste for blog templates...)
• Subscribe to the Wiggly Wigglers podcast

Irish red data books

Two Irish red data books have been published to date.

• The Irish Red Data Book: 1 Vascular Plants (Curtis & McGough, 1988)
• The Irish Red Data Book: 2 Vertebrates (Whilde, 1993).

No red data books have been published for invertebrates, fungi, or bryophytes, although a list of bryophytes was included in the most recent Flora Protection Order (1999).

Protection and conservation of Ireland's plants

According to the National Botanic Gardens and the Red Data List of Irish plants:

• 7 species of plant are critically endangered and require immediate intervention if they are to be saved from becoming extinct in Ireland.
• 9 are already extinct
• 2 are extinct in the wild
• 7 are critically endangered
• 52 are endangered
• 69 are vulnerable
• 16 are data deficient – we don’t have enough information to confirm their conservation status
• 14 species are not considered threatened in Ireland (i.e. the Republic), but are protected in Northern Ireland.

Plants in Ireland's Nature Reserves and National Parks are legally protected. Our rarest species are protected under the 1999 Flora Protection Order, which includes a number of mosses, liverworts, lichens and algae.

The Botanic Gardens has established an Irish Threatened Plant Species Conservation Programme that is developing expertise and knowledge on how best to cultivate and protect Ireland's threatened species of plants. It is also establishing an Irish National Strategy for Plant Conservation.

• Find out more about the Red Data List of Irish plants
• National Botanic Gardens summary of Endangered plants in Ireland
• Information on rare bryophytes in Ireland

Over 7% of Ireland’s flowering plants are at risk

Ireland has only 850 native species of flowering plants. 64 of these - that's 7% - are on the Red Data List of Irish Plants. This means that they are either vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.

And not only flowering plants are at risk. Certain species of fern, moss and lichen are also threatened. In fact, it is estimated that 120 species of plant are at real risk of disappearing in Ireland, and a total of 188 species are listed in the original Red Data List of Irish Plants. Of these species, 64 are flowering plants, 4 are ferns, 14 mosses, 4 liverworts, 1 lichen and 2 are algae (stoneworts).

Many populations of these species are in decline or have disappeared in parts of the country because of new housing and golf course developments, changing agricultural practices, mowing of roadside verges, drainage schemes and overgrazing.

• Download the original Irish Red Data List of Vascular Plants (1988) (PDF, 80 pages, 400KB)
• Review a new Red Data List for Irish plants, compiled in 2005 (xls, 525KB)
• Find out about an Irish Threatened Plant Species Conservation Programme and the Protection of Plants in Ireland

Dublin City Biodiversity Action Plan 2007-2010

The Biodiversity Action Plan for Dublin will aim to identify positive actions, improve quality of life and benefit both people and wildlife throughout the city.

Stakeholders have been invited to comment on the production and content of the Biodiversity Action Plan for Dublin city under a public consultation running from 27th November 2006 to Monday 15th January 2007. Stakeholders will then be invited to comment on a draft plan in the New Year, with a view to launching the final document in April 2007.

The preparation of the Dublin City Biodiversity Action Plan is an objective of the Dublin City Development Plan 2006 – 2011. It is also an action under the Dublin City Heritage Plan 2002-2006 and is partially funded by the Heritage Council.

• Read about the Dublin City Biodiversity Action Plan public consultation

25 species, 60 habitats in need of special protection

In Ireland, 25 species and 60 habitats are recognised by the EU to be in need of special protection.

Enjoying the hills

A proposed "Strategic Plan For The Development Of Outdoor Recreational Facilities in the area known as the South Dublin Hills" aims to link all existing and potential outdoor recreation components in the South Dublin Hills area over the 10 year period to 2017. The Strategic Plan is envisaged to include

1. A vision for outdoor recreation in 2012 and 2017


2. An account of the current status of outdoor recreation in the area


3. An inventory of outdoor recreation infrastructure and facilities currently in place


4. An audit of land that has potential for outdoor recreation use


5. Address opportunities for development


6. Address obstacles to development


7. A costed Action Plan with short, medium and long-term targets


8. Potential funding strategies

The plan will address the need to develop an integrated approach to the provision of outdoor recreation facilities and infrastructure; coordination of the aspirations of the different groups; urban development; transport; access; carrying capacity of the resource; education; conservation; management of the resource including a role for community involvement; security structures to deal with anti-social behaviour; marketing.

It is being commissioned by Coillte on behalf of themselves and various local authorities and interest groups.

• The power of one... background to the proposed Strategic Plan

Mountains on our doorstep

The Dublin mountains have recently come under the wing of a vet called Mark D'Alton. Clearfelling by Coillte, the Forestry Board, has recently led to the south Dublin hills sporting a hairless and, well, 'mangey' look. These felled plantations are Coillte's business, so periodic tree harvesting is inevitable. But D'Alton could see these mountains held more promise. Why should they merely be used as breeding sows for timber?

After all, Dublin's reluctant urbanites need somewhere to escape to on weekends and long summer evenings. And where are the mountain bike tracks we seek, the running routes we want, the walking ways we need...? Could we not work with Coillte to develop these hills as recreational nature parks? Is this not exactly what our fattened society needs - to see some green and work off some inches?

And so to D'Alton the Dublin Mountain Initiative was born. In late 2006, his group along with Coillte, some local authorities and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, posted a tender for development of "Strategic Plan For The Development Of Outdoor Recreational Facilities in the area known as the South Dublin Hills". The plan aims to link all existing and potential outdoor recreation components in the South Dublin Hills area over a 10 year period.

Many groups and individuals have willingly fostered D'Alton's novel Dublin Mountain Intiative. With so much support and sense, this pig may yet fly.

• Irish Mountain Running Association's coverage of Mark D'Alton's Dublin Mountain Initiative

Ireland's 10 species of bat

The 1100 species of bat make up a quarter of all mammalian species on Earth. So it is perhaps to be expected that a similar proportion of Ireland's mammalian species, 10 to be precise, would be bats (see post on Irish mammals for a list). All bats residing in Ireland belong to the bat Sub-order Microchiroptera, and all except one (the Lesser Horseshoe bat of the family Rhinolophidae) belong to the Vespertilionidae family.

All of the Irish bat species feed on invertebrates and therefore frequent places rich in flies, beetles, moths and other insects. Woodlands, scrub, wetlands, river corridors and flower rich grasslands are all suitable foraging habitats.

Some of our bat species have only been recognised in Ireland recently:

• In 1997, the Nathusius’ pipistrelle was discovered breeding in Northern Ireland and has since also been recorded in the Republic.
  
  
• Also in the late 1990s, scientists discovered that the Pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus
  pipistrellus) actually comprised two different species, the Common and Soprano Pipistrelle. Both are found in Ireland, so another bat was added to the roll call.
  
  
• In 2003, a Brandt's bat was discovered in County Wicklow, and has since been confirmed breeding in County Clare and County Tipperary.
  
  
• Bat species can be tricky to identify, but reports suggest that Noctule (Nyctalus noctula) and Barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus) species may have undiscovered populations here. Exciting times.

All Irish bats are protected and are listed in the Red Data Book of Irish Vertebrates. It is an offence under the Wildlife Act (1976 & 2000) to intentionally disturb, kill or injure a bat or its resting place.

Find out what bat species live in your area using the interactive bat distribution maps compiled by Bat Conservation Ireland.

Ireland vital statistics

Check out the Ordanance Survey of Ireland (OSI) website for facts and figures on Ireland's tallest mountains, longest rivers, largest lakes and physical dimensions:

• Kerry has 4 of Ireland's 8 highest mountains, ranging from the 951m Mount Brandon to 1038m Carrauntoolhil. At ninth position is Donegal's Errigal at 749m.
  
  
• Ireland's longest river is the Shannon (360km) followed by the Barrow (193km), the Suir (184km) and the Blackwater (168km).
  
  
• Northern Ireland claims Ireland's largest lake, namely Lough Neagh at 381 sq km. County Galway's Lough Corrib is second at176 sq km and Lough Derg (which straddles Counties Tipperary, Galway and Clare) third with 118 sq km. County Fermanagh's Lough Erne covers 112 sq km and Roscommon, Longford and Westmeath share Lough Ree at 105 sq km.
  
  
• Depending where you measure to and from, Ireland is 486km from top to tail and 275km wide.

Ireland has 12 of 13 major European wild brown trout habitats

Ireland has 12 of the 13 significant natural wild brown trout lakes that remain in Europe. These rare and relatively large lakes have certain characteristics that, since the last ice age, have made them the perfect habitat for wild brown trout: alkaline, unpolluted and with extensive shallow areas and an abundance of insect life.

The Corrib river and lake system in the West of Ireland harbours the largest and most important of these 12 lakes: Loughs Corrib, Mask and Carra. These, the Great Western Lakes, have a surface area of 265 sq km and constitute an environmental resource of major international importance.

Depressed brown trout stocks
A scientific survey indicating that wild brown stocks were depressed prompted the establishment of wild brown trout development programmes for these lakes. The programme aims to implement measures to foster the growth of wild brown trout stocks. It addresses water quality and environmental issues by facilitating riverine surveys, river and stream development and stock management.

You can find out more on the Western Regional Fisheries Board website

Ireland's emissions of pollutants

EPER is the European Pollutant Emission Register. Every three years Ireland, and the other Member States of the European Union, produce a report on the emissions of their industrial facilities into air and waters. The report must detail any of 50 pollutants where emissions have exceeded threshold values cited in the EPER Decision.

The most recent report, published in 2006, reflects emissions made in 2004. For the next report (on emissions made in 2007), EPER will be replaced by the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (European PRTR).

EPER was established by a Commission Decision of 17 July 2000. The EPER Decision is based on Article 15(3) of Council Directive 96/61/EC concerning integrated pollution prevention and control.

• Check out Ireland's Performance under the European Pollutant Register

Icelandic whooper swans winter in Ireland

Three species of swan occur in Ireland the Whooper, Mute and Bewick. Of the five breeding populations of whooper swan (found from the Mediterranean to Asia) those that choose to overwinter in Ireland hail from Icelandic stock.

Starting early November, they make landfall in such places as Loughs Swilly and Foyle in Counties Donegal and Derry. From these northern regions, they disperse south along the coast, and to inland freshwater lakes, marshes and farmland.

In January 1995, Ireland's seasonal population of whooper swans was estimated at 16000 birds. It is said that 5 per cent of the world's whooper swan overwinter in Upper Lough Earne in County Fermanagh and 6 per cent at Lough Neagh, in County Tyrone. Open fields, meadows and bogs near Newgrange in County Meath also provide wintering grounds for a flock of between 30 and 230 swans. In spring they turn tail again, leaving Ireland for Iceland.

• Listen to the Mooney Goes Wild radio programme 'The Whooper Swan - from Iceland to Ireland' (listed on the page as programme 4)
  
  


• What birds to see where and when - Birdwatching in Northern Ireland