Eoghan Daltun: There is zero excuse for Ireland to remain the nature basket case it is today

As his new photobook celebrating Ireland’s rainforests is released, Eoghan Daltun writes a rallying cry to save these precious ecosystems for our future generations before it’s too late

Eoghan Daltun says we must do more to protect our beautiful and precious rainforest ecosystems. Picture: Don MacMonagle

It is estimated that, before farming arrived, roughly 80% of Ireland was covered in some sort of forest. Given our mild, wet climate, most would have been temperate rainforest: unimaginably rich wonderlands, teeming with every ecosystem layer from mycorrhizal fungi right up to top predators such as lynx, wolves, and bears.

But now, the lynx, wolves, and bears are gone, natural forest is only about 1% of land area, and the vast bulk of that is in a desperate state, overrun by highly destructive alien invasive species like sika deer, feral goats, and rhododendron. The perfect example is Killarney National Park, by far the largest and most important surviving piece of semi-natural forest on the island of Ireland, and true rainforest.