Celebrating nature conservation

Damien Enright recommends events for Biodiversity Week.

BIODIVERSITY is a buzz word which is here to stay and grows exponentially important as the accelerated extinction of animal and plant species impoverishes this planet and depletes its armoury for survival.

However, the biodiversity we still enjoy is to be cherished. Biodiversity Day is annually observed on May 22 and National Biodiversity Week, May 18-25, celebrates the concept of conserving nature in all its diverse and marvellous manifestations.

Biodiversity Day Shows, supported by The Department of the Environment Notice Nature Campaign, will be held at six different centres throughout Ireland. My nearest will be the Manch Estate at Ballineen, Co Cork, not far west of Bandon on the R586, organised by The Irish Natural Forestry Foundation (INFF) on Sundays, May 18 and 25.

The Manch Estate comprises 300 acres of beautiful woodland at the junction of the Bandon and Blackwater rivers. For the ambience alone, the fresh air, interest, fun and general enthusiasm, I wouldn’t miss a visit.

On May 18, for the entirely dedicated birder, early-hours reveller or insomniac, the action-packed day will start with a Dawn Chorus walk at 4.30am. For those in search of crepuscular thrills, there will be a bat walk at twilight. What more could a family want for a day out of doors? Talks and guided walks start at 9.30am with wildlife photographer, Mike Brown, and continue all day with various other outdoor experts covering topics ranging from establishing and managing hedgerows and fruiting trees, to the importance of birds and bees. There will be demonstrations of wood-based crafts including basketweaving, lobsterpot making, charcoal making and extracting timber from woodland using huge horses.

The Coomhola Salmon Trust will run workshops for budding biologists, entitled Wild River Workshop — what’s going on down there?, investigating the variety of life to be found in rivers. The INFF’s Lynn Daley will explore the forest paths and life in the trees.

The publicity flyer tells me: “There will be art workshops and a costume-making workshop culminating in a pageant showing the life in rivers, including a giant salmon. The results of the recent photography competition will be on show and the winners will be awarded their prizes.

“All this action will take place in the backdrop of a craft fair, food stalls, farmers’ market and traditional Irish music, making it a fun-filled, educational day for all the family. So do come along to this free event, bring the children and a picnic! Musicians, please bring your instruments!”

Sunday, May 25, will be Foodies day, when the INFF hosts a Slow Food Forest Feast, otherwise called The Munch at Manch. Culinary concoctionists from Ballymaloe, The Gubbeen Smokehouse, the Good Things Café, as well as other noted Cork food artists will prepare a banquet of wild and local delicacies with various food writers and artisan producers in attendance. The event will begin at noon and there will be guided walks and demonstrations of traditional crafts. Tickets for the feast are €25 and are available from Lynn Daley at INFF 023-22823.

Elsewhere on this verdant isle, similar events will be held on May 25 at The Irish Seed Savers Association, Scariff, Co Clare, The Organic Centre, Rossinver, Co Leitrim, Irish Peatland Conservation Council, Lullymore, Co Kildare, The Loughs Agency, Co Derry, and in Dublin at Airfield House, Dundrum on May 24-25.

It is estimated that, globally, 27,000 species become extinct annually, about three every hour. In Ireland, eight bird species, three fish species and 160 plant species are threatened, besides sand dune and machair systems, turloughs or seasonal lakes, boglands and seashores.

But the promotion of biodiversity is not just about the preservation of “wildness”, of “natural born” creatures and plants. Equally important to the planet’s health is the conservation of farmed animals in their diverse strains and forms, of farming and forestry methods, of tree varieties, of seed stock and hybridised varieties developed by Man, over millennia, to suit local topographical, soil and weather conditions.

The biodiversity movement celebrates all of these and should be supported.