Malcolm Noonan: We must reconnect with nature to restore it for future generations

We have all the statutory targets; rewetting, woodland, marine, free flowing rivers, but then there’s the really tricky bit; winning hearts and minds, writes Malcolm Noonan

Simple measures within the Corncrake LIFE Project, such as changing mowing regimes, predator control and planting nettles over a short number of years, saw numbers of breeding pairs of corncrakes increase in the north west down into Mayo.

I will never forget hearing the unmistakable ‘crex crex’ of a male corncrake in the wild for the first time. It was 2024 and we were up on the Mullet Peninsula with the Corncrake LIFE Project. 

Simple measures such as changing mowing regimes, predator control and planting nettles over a short number of years, saw numbers of breeding pairs increase in the north west down into Mayo.