Plea for green army to save native wildlife

HERITAGE chiefs have drawn up the latest key battlefield in a crucial defence of the country’s increasingly threatened wildlife — your garden.

The unprecedented pressure on the landscape has pushed the once common species like the barn owl, corncrake, Irish lady tresses, the golden plover, marsh fritillary butterfly and six species of bumblebee to the brink of extinction.

The Heritage Council is to mount a campaign this week to galvanise a nationwide army of householders behind a plan to stem mounting casualties in an ongoing environmental onslaught. It believes amateur gardeners can help reverse the crisis posed by climate change, intensive agriculture and over-development by planting native and traditional plants.

“Gardens make up a huge amount of our land mass,” said Michael Starrett, chief executive of the Heritage Council.

“They provide food and shelter for a huge number of birds, butterflies and other important species of wildlife.

“Growing native trees, shrubs and flowers or planting old-fashioned traditional garden plants from herbs to scented flowers provide more food and shelter than the newer hybrid and exotic breeds.”

The loss of natural habitats such as boglands, natural grasslands, hedgerows and sand dunes has led to wildlife dwindling at an alarming rate.

Planting traditional flowers like roses, lavender, daisies and sweetpea, which contain more food for threatened species than modern versions, will help save endangered species.

The Heritage Council is also asking gardeners to use less moss peat, insecticide and other garden chemicals.

“Butterflies are known as an indicator species for measuring changes to our biodiversity and environment,” said Dr Liam Lysaght, director of the National Biodiversity Data Centre.

“Even looking at this year alone, we can see some very dramatic changes. Some species such as the marsh fritillary are in serious decline due to the loss of their wetland habitats.”

The Heritage Council has also called on the Government to step up to the mark on Tuesday on the United Nations-driven World Biodiversity Day.