Meet the Defenders of the Earth against the Alien Invasion!

 

Photo shows Paula Kearney (Galway City Council Biodiversity Officer), Conor Ruane and Michael Sheridan from LAWPRO with Tuesday's Tuatha volunteer crew from the ARM corporation ready to begin the campaign to eradicate invasive species from Terryland Forest Park.

Paula, Conor and Michael give us very informative talks on the invasive species prevalent in the West of Ireland, Galway and Terryland Forest Park, the damage that they cause and how they can be eradicated or, at the very least, controlled.

After the talks came the hard work as the volunteers, under the supervision of Paula, used 8 tonnes of mulch and ample amounts of cardboard (donated by Smyths Toys, City Council, ARM and University of Galway) to cover an area of woodland infested with Winter Heliotrope. This result will be monitored by us and city council over the next few months and will serve as a pilot on how the scourge of this plant can be tackled in a non-chemical way.

Winter Heliotrope flowers from November to March and for that reason it seems to have been originally brought into Ireland to provide winter feed for bees and was planted near bee hives. But sadly it now has spread like wildfire across the country covering huge areas of ground with a giant carpet smothering any possibility of growth by other fauna. Two weeks ago I spent a few day working in Dublin and was shocked to see it covering much of the embankments along much of the DART line from Dun Laoghaire to Killiney.

Finally it was great to have Kieran Ryan participate in today's activity. Kieran is involved in a significant reafforestation and rewilding project near Kiltimagh. The Tuatha volunteers hope to visit this Mayo initiative over the summer period.