Most pearl mussels are now more than 100 years old

FINANCIAL incentives should be given to landowners who restore land to provide habitats for endangered species, the Heritage Council has suggested.

The council is calling for a €20m plan to save wildlife under threat and generally improve our environment, which has taken a severe battering since the 1970’s — a trend that’s continuing with the economic boom.

In Ireland, over 29 different bird species and 120 species of flowering plants are in serious decline. And, amid reports of rapidly vanishing and even extinct species — now coming on an almost daily basis — fears are being expressed for the survival of our longest living animal, the pearl mussel.