Looking for lizards in a changing world

ASK people if they have ever seen a lizard close-up in Ireland and chances are many will reply in the negative.

These little animals are here but, like many other species, are falling in numbers for various reasons. The Irish Wildlife Trust is asking people to report any sightings of lizards to it. It’s unlikely many people will get exercised about the fate of the lizard, but there’s a wider issue involved.

Its decline is another telling sign of diminishing wildlife habitat which has fallen victim to large-scale development – housing and roads, for example – and the intensification of farming in recent decades. And, now, as we have often seen in the past, people are trying to turn the clock back, with calls by some groups for greater protection of the so-called green Ireland and for such protection to be enshrined in our planning systems.