Rewilding in Inishowen

 Photo: Photo courtesy of Adam Rory Porter Photography Buncrana

Rewilding. What’s that?

The term ‘Rewilding’ pretty much encapsulates anything that encourages wildlife to thrive. With careful management initially areas can also become a self-sustaining ecosystem. But it is a bit more complicated than that (like most things are) 

While the word has been around since the early 1990s and included three necessary components: Cores (i.e. core areas where nature is strictly protected), Corridors (to link the cores to each other) and Carnivores – the three ‘C’s.  

The term never went beyond the academic world of conservation biology until George Monbiot published his 2013 book ‘Feral’, and worked its way into the public imagination.

There is a temptation to omit the ‘c’ for carnivore. There was a failed experiment in the Netherlands where the ‘rewilding’ didn’t include carnivores and kept herds of horses behind a fence (leading to overgrazing and starvation of the animals) has done more harm than good for the concept.

Most would agree that for it to be real ‘rewilding’ it has to be big – landscape level; it has to include reintroducing species driven to extinction by people; and it has to steer the land so that, in effect, it has control of itself – something which is sometimes referred to as ‘self-willed land’. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the case as we are encouraged to rewild our own back gardens by being more tolerant of wildlife and careful maintenance and planting.

New relationship with nature

Padraic Fogarty writing in GreenNews.ie thinks that trying to reassemble our collapsed ecosystems is an enormous task.

He thinks that one of the principle arguments from some detractors is that we cannot simply walk away from our landscapes to be overrun with invasive species or with nothing to keep a lid on deer numbers.

They have a point – for the foreseeable future there will be a need for people to be involved in the land: helping to remove barriers on rivers and restoring floodplains, re-profiling mined-out bogs to hold onto water, eradicating rhododendron, converting conifer monocultures to native woodlands and monitoring populations of reintroduced species.

And this is good news for landowners – rewilding has enormous employment opportunities and is a chance to reverse rural decline. Another big objection is that rewilding is the opposite of farming and that its supporters want to see swathes of the country ‘abandoned’.

Yes, farm animals, and sheep, in particular, will need to be removed from large areas, especially in the uplands. But our landscape is diverse enough so that this would not exclude small-scale farmers producing, say, high-end organic beef, artisanal dairy products, or honey.

Rewildling can exist – as it does in many European countries – in a mosaic with these small producers. And, of course, ‘real’ rewildling would be a boon for tourism.

Wild Ireland

One person who has been aware of rewilding even before the term was created is zoologist Killain Mclaughlin from Buncrana. Ever since he was young Killian wanted to create a haven for wildlife.

I’m sure you have already heard that this has been made a reality. Wild Ireland is a wildlife sanctuary in Dundrain, Burnfoot and is set in 23 acres of ground.  Introduced in the sanctuary are animals that had been rescued from dangerous or unsuitable places and working with three international charities Killian has even rescued three bears.

Killian has spent over six years transforming the site into the perfect habitat for the return of other animals. Along with the bears. Lynx, wolves boars and deer all roam free. All the animals were native to Ireland, but they were hunted to extinction or went extinct due to habitat loss. There are also Barbary Macaque monkeys that were living in Ireland according to archaeological digs and you’ll see those in the sanctuary too.

Killian says that just a few centuries ago, Ireland was clothed in a thick blanket of Temperate Celtic Rainforest. Due to destruction and deforestation, this woodland has all but disappeared, in a small pocket of remaining woodland on the Inishowen peninsula, the hands of time have been rolled back to an era were ferocious beasts ruled the Irish countryside. 

Here they live in their natural habitat in the temperate rainforest.

Lots of wild birds also call Wild Ireland home and the beautiful lake is home to swans, ducks and even a cheeky pair of otters.

There is a lot to see and do for children too, take the fairy trail around the rainforest, be delighted with tales of ancient folklore, play in our state of the art play park and finish off with some tasty treats from the Wild Ireland Shop and café.

If you would like more information go to their website www.wildireland.org

Treasures in the Garden

If you bury your memories, make sure they are sealed up

My motivation for vacuuming the house is that I get to keep any money I find. 

Granted it’s never that much, but the odd fifty cent piece pays for an ice cream every now and then. I also have the same policy when getting the washing out of the machine. Any stray coins in the drain hole are mine. 

It’s also a great feeling to unearth something from the depths of the sofa and the same feeling applies to when you find a hidden treasure in the garden. There are stories of people finding gold coins, wedding rings attached to carrots and maybe an ancient standing stone that was covered over by accident when the house was built. My sister in law found a buried WW2 bomb shelter in her garden which was a bit of a surprise.

Of course most of us don’t really find anything other than an old rusty garden trowel, which in a way might be a good thing. If I think about what I’ve buried in gardens in the past then these items are best left untouched. I’ve lost count of the number of pets that have gone into the ground. There was a survey done by Primrose not too long ago and found 44% of people have buried cats and dogs, birds, rabbits and fish take up 26% and a worrying 27% of people surveyed said the things the bury in the garden are ‘Undisclosed’ 

Other things people bury range from a piano frame, letters to their future selves, broken baths, bananas to ward off verruca’s to an old hard drive and even the ‘husbands dinner’

I’ve laid a few other things to rest over the years other than the family pets. When I was pre-teen I had a bit of a thing for burying Action Men in the garden. It’s no doubt an indication of my adolescent state of mind as I tended to torture them first with fire and then seal them up in plastic. Die cast cars and plastic soldiers got the same treatment and are no doubt still in their resting places. I’m sure there’s a Netflix series in there somewhere. 

As I got a bit older (not much) I then resorted to burying packs of Number 10 cigarettes in our local park on the way home from school so my mother wouldn’t find them on me when I got home for my tea. I’d dig them up again in the morning on the way to the bus stop and take up the back seat of the double decker puffing away like crazy until getting to school then repeating the same thing on the way home.

Only 4% of people asked in the survey buried time capsules for their children and grandchildren. It’s probably the equivalent of bookmarking something on the computer now but putting together time capsules used to be very exciting events. I remember the fuss and fanfare when Blue Peter buried their tin of historical items back in 1971. John Noakes Valerie Singleton and Peter Pervis put in photos of themselves along with some tapes and decimal coins. It was dug up recently and nothing had survived the damp and microbes. 

There have been a couple buried since and hopefully they learned to seal the containers with more than Sellotape. The middle box contained such treasures as hairs from Goldie the Blue Peter Labrador, a record of the programme's theme tune arranged by Mike Oldfield and video footage of the moving of Petra's statue who was the shows first pet dog from 1962 (to 1977). 

The last capsule buried in 1998 is called the Millennium Time Capsule. As well as containing Blue Peter items including a badge and history of the programme, the capsule also contains a set of Teletubby dolls, an insulin pen and a France '98 football. The time capsule will be opened in 2050. If you can’t wait that long until it’s unveiled I’m sure you’ll find some images to look at on your phone.

There are stories of people finding complete cars, loaded guns; hand grenades even planes in their garden but as the Blue Peter capsules show, most things are reclaimed pretty quickly when buried into the earth, unless it’s plastic that just gets smaller and smaller until it enters the food chain.

Everything you dig up in the garden will have a story behind it. If you find an old scorched Action Man with its elasticated limbs dislodged wrapped in plastic, spare a thought for the angst of childhood.

Jobs to do in November

 Cutting Back Autumn Raspberries

It’s around this time of year you see sticks flying through the air. 

It’s not the prevailing winds that cause this phenomenon its children and their parents attempting to get conkers out of the trees before they fall down by themselves. It can be fun to watch, the sticks have more chance hitting the thrower on the way down than the conker and there’s some dodging to be had. It’s a good job everyone has on their winter woolly hats for protection. I’m surprised the people who ban playing conkers haven’t picked up on this as it appears far more dangerous than anything happening in the playground. For now though we’ll enjoy the unregulated fun and frolics, both the taking part and watching. 

Sweet chestnuts can be fun to collect too. They don’t make very good conkers, they are similar to inedible horse chestnuts but you’d have to be in a pretty dark room not to spot the difference. The ones you want are covered in fine, hedgehog-like spines and the nuts look slightly flattened with a tuft at one end. If you are roasting them (yum) you might want to make a small slit in the shell before roasting or they might explode. I used to eat them raw at school instead of sweets and loved the way the inside furry bit seemed to take all the moisture from your mouth. 

Another bit of fun at this time of year is kicking your way through the mountains of fallen leaves, made all the more enjoyable when they are dry and crispy.

If you have a lot of leaves in the garden it might not be as much fun though.  Make life easy for yourself and only collect leaves where absolutely necessary. You can clear some off the lawn if they are thick as this might kill the grass, if there are just a few the worms will take care of things. 

The worms can also sort out the ones that are sitting in the borders too.  This isn’t laziness but necessary to keep the cycle replenished and gives a nice protective mulch to keep in moisture, protect young plant shoots in spring and keep weeds down. However, where leaves have drifted deeply or are smothering smaller plants or silver Mediterranean herbs and perennials, clear to keep the plants dry and airy. You can lightly turn the soil and put the collected leaves straight into the ground around plants if needed or put them in bags to rot down for next year.

Sweeping leaves off paths and patios is all you need to keep the garden looking cared for and covers for a wealth neglect in the beds.

Gone with the Wind

If you live in a windy area as most of us do in Inishowen, you might want to trim a few brittle or shallow rooted shrubs. Roses and buddleia can be topped by a third to prevent wind-rock, which can undermine stability over the coming months. If you have autumn raspberries that aren’t on supports you might need to cut them down to ground level. A clean cut is advisable, but more accurate pruning can follow on the other side of winter when the sap is rising.

More Suggestions

Keep an eye out for annual weeds. Winter may be approaching, but they will still grow if weather is mild. They probably won’t set seed now but they will be itching to in early spring.

Shore up spring cabbages by drawing up soil around them to steady the developing heads against wind rock. We have Kale and broccoli which is far too high to mound soil around so I might need to stake them with bamboo to keep them upright. I’ve found that even if they do fall over it doesn’t really affect the crop in spring.

Excessive moisture can rot alpines, so protect groups of plants by making a shelter from two columns of bricks with a sheet of clear rigid plastic or plastic stretched over the top.

Wash slippery surfaces. Algae, moss and other grime can easily be removed by scrubbing with water and a few drops of specialist cleaner, such as Jeyes Fluid Path, Patio and Drive Cleaner. If you have a large area to tackle, pick up a pressure washer.

Make the most of dry spells by painting fences, sheds, arches and wooden garden furniture with preservative.

Cover the compost heap with a piece of old carpet or cardboard to maintain temperatures suitable for the rotting down the material inside.

Clean up your mower before putting it away for the winter. Put it on its side and remove caked on grass and mud with a stiff brush, washing off any really stubborn bits with soap and water.

Planting spring bulbs can be completed early this month as possible, check the planting depths.

You Are Gardening Crazy When...

 Why take 1 cutting when you can take 1000?

I’ve spent the best part of this year trailing mud into the house. 

It’s just a bit too much trouble to untie my boot laces when I come in from a bit of gardening work, so I don’t generally bother. I do have a bit of an end of the day run round with a cloth to clean the white floor tiles we have (Why on earth did we buy white bathroom tiles?) so I can start a new day clean and fresh. I also always wear a shopkeepers coat now. If you’ve ever seen episodes of ‘Open all Hours’ you’ll know the style of it. I actually wear it to the shops now too as I think it makes me look like I’m busy in the same way people walk around workplaces with a sheet of A4 paper in their hand to look like they are doing something or going somewhere. Most people think I am a mechanic in our local shop. I have the coat on permanently and always have muddy boots but what else can turn us into local gardening characters? 

Maybe there are certain traits we should be looking out for to see if we are going garden crazy.

You know you are garden crazy when you…

Feel uncomfortable in some-one else's house if there's a badly placed houseplant and desperately resist the urge to move it to a more suitable spot.

Find it difficult resisting dead-heading in some-one else's garden.

Buy weak straggly, reduced price plants because you think you can bring them back to life but generally end up in the compost bin – which is OK as it’ll feed other plants.

Read the labels on plants at the garden centre and disagree with what it says as well as not having enough information on the label for people not as knowledgeable as you.

Look at neglected gardens as a challenge.

Name your children and pets after flowers.

Think £50 is a lot of money for a pair of trousers, but a great price for a particularly wonderful plant.

Can give local directions based on particularly fine hedges and specimen trees as landmarks without mentioning roads, post offices or pubs.

Stop talking mid-sentence when you see a plant you don't recognize.

Wake up in the middle of a cold night and wonder if you should go out and cover your succulents and tender perennials.

Water other people's plants when out for a walk from your own water bottle if they look thirsty.

Only watch football matches on the TV to assess the pitch quality and percentage of artificial grass added.

Taking cuttings from peoples gardens

Always have a pair of secateurs in your pocket in case you see overhanging plant hazards.

Have a mountain of plastic pots and sheeting squirrelled away as it’ll always come in useful.

Give courgettes to friends and co-workers (and sometimes the postie)

Proudly show your compost pile to visitors.

Have more pictures of your plants than your children/grandchildren.

Are pleased when some nettles grow in your garden because they're great for the compost heap, and they show that the soil is rich in that area.

Forever trying to give away plants to friends and neighbours because you propagated far too many. Why take one cutting when you can take 100?

Feel that seed catalogues are one the year's most anticipated thing posted through your letterbox and you have the bookmark tab full of links to online catalogues.

Garden looks better than your house.

There is no item of footwear you own that hasn't at some time had soil on them and all your clothes are gardening clothes.

Car has so much soil on the carpet you could germinate seeds in it.

Ensure every annual holiday has a nursery and /or botanic garden included.

Find that most people share all their plant problems with you.

Have plants in pots at the back door waiting to be added to your garden at some stage when you have either the time or room.

Spend a lot of your free time just watching your garden grow.