1 million euro to spend on Nature conservation, what would you do?

Capercaille

Hypothetical question? If you suddenly got 1 million euros to spend on nature conservation in Ireland, what would you spend it on???

Hondo75

Buy up more bogs to protect.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Plant a million native trees.

OpenYourEyes

Yeah I'd prob go down the native forest route too. Otherwise I'd buy/protect/manage various parts of the Shannon and Suck Callows and hopefully restore them to their former glory.

Or maybe make "another Boora" - something similar has been proposed for cutaway bog just north of Lough Ree, sounds promising if it ever gets the go ahead!

Birdnuts

Increase incentives for vermin control in and around important sites for nesting waders, seabirds etc with particular focus on the invasive mink menace. Also an education campaign on the merits of raptors in providing balanced ecosystems of the the type one sees in other parts of Europe. I would also spend money on restoring wetland habitats and creating new ones in the likes of cutover bogs and old quarries.

magicbastarder

Tinsley Itchy Sandlot wrote: »

Plant a million native trees.

albeit on whose land?
if you got lucky and got land for a grand an acre, that's 1000 acres, with no money left over.
i'd love to buy an entire catchment area, so you've control over the water too.

OpenYourEyes

magicbastarder wrote: »

albeit on whose land?
if you got lucky and got land for a grand an acre, that's 1000 acres, with no money left over.
i'd love to buy an entire catchment area, so you've control over the water too.

Tbh, I'd say if you showed up to various landowners (private, public, NGO's etc.) saying you'd finance the trees and management for Xyears, you'd probably get the co-operation regarding space to do it

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

magicbastarder wrote: »

albeit on whose land?
if you got lucky and got land for a grand an acre, that's 1000 acres, with no money left over.
i'd love to buy an entire catchment area, so you've control over the water too.

I don't think the intention of the thread was to elaborate on or deride ideas. Just a bit of fun! The state, however, owns vast tracts of land that could be used. But I'll not add to the spoil of the thread by elaborating.

magicbastarder

i certainly wasn't trying to deride anyone's ideas, just wasn't sure if it was just a purely fun thing.

i'd buy nearly a million euro worth of native seeds of all varieties and spend the rest on hiring a plane to broadcast them!

OpenYourEyes

I realise that its a bit of fun etc., but I don't think theres any harm in a bit of questioning and discussion to be honest - although not the extent that people are completely picking apart and shooting down other peoples ideas.

Some questioning, elaboration and counter-points etc can be productive and educational (as long as the tone is right!)!

Capercaille

Birdnuts wrote: »

Increase incentives for vermin control in and around important sites for nesting waders, seabirds etc with particular focus on the invasive mink menace. Also an education campaign on the merits of raptors in providing balanced ecosystems of the the type one sees in other parts of Europe. I would also spend money on restoring wetland habitats and creating new ones in the likes of cutover bogs and old quarries.

Mink are on the Saltee Islands now. If they establish there you can say goodbye to the Puffins, Manx Shearwaters etc.

OpenYourEyes

Capercaille wrote: »

Mink are on the Saltee Islands now. If they establish there you can say goodbye to the Puffins, Manx Shearwaters etc.

Where did you hear that? Theres definitely rats but no Mink that I'm aware of?

(don't think theres' breeding Manx Shearwaters on Saltees either...)

Edit: Just talking to someone who knows the island well and they've said that Mink have been seen offshore and on boats near the islands etc., but that there's none actually on the island that they're aware of. Although it is conceivable that they'd get tehre, and would certainly cause an awful lot of damage to Gannets, Puffins, Shags, Gulls, Razorbills and Guillemots! (and I'm sure other species..)

Capercaille

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Where did you hear that? Theres definitely rats but no Mink that I'm aware of?

(don't think theres' breeding Manx Shearwaters on Saltees either...)

Stephen Newton of Birdwatch Ireland told me mink scats were found on the Saltees. They were struggling to get funds off the Minister to remove them.

http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/IrelandsBirds/Tubenoses/ManxShearwater/tabid/143/Default.aspx

Manx Shearwaters cannot walk on land and can only drag themselves over the ground and into their burrows, making them vulnerable to gull predation. In Ireland, the largest colonies are found in Co. Kerry, with the Blasket Islands having the greatest numbers. Colonies are also found on the east coast, on the Saltees off Co. Wexford and Copeland Island, Co. Down.

OpenYourEyes

Capercaille wrote: »

Stephen Newton of Birdwatch Ireland told me mink scats were found on the Saltees. They were struggling to get funds off the Minister to remove them.

Oh really? Thats terrible alright so! Hopefully something will be done to tackle them before their numbers get out of hand

Edit: I stand corrected regarding the manxies too! They might be on Little Saltee because I don't think they're on Great Saltee (the one everyone visits)

magicbastarder

staying with mink, i was talking to someone from the grey partridge project who was saying that while they have no data to back it up, they think there might be a drop in mink numbers with the recovery of the pine marten population.

OpenYourEyes

magicbastarder wrote: »

staying with mink, i was talking to someone from the grey partridge project who was saying that while they have no data to back it up, they think there might be a drop in mink numbers with the recovery of the pine marten population.

I would be surprised but delighted if thats true!

The fact that Pine Martens are a bit more specialist in terms of habitat than Mink are would make me skeptical though. It could be possible in wooded areas, or areas bordering woods though. Although I would have thought that Mink would win in a fight with a Pine Marten too.


Just to stay on topic, I think what the GPCT and NPWS have done in Boora is a great example of what can be done for conservation when the money and political will is there. Although they'd be the first to admit that what they're doing isn't a long-term plan - similar management efforts have to be rolled out throughout the country on smaller farm-scales for it to be sustainable.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Definitely Manx Shearwaters on Great Saltee. I ringed them there many years ago. Mink is new to me and if it's true then the whole million should be sent straight to a programme to eliminate them

Judgement Day

Instead of idle speculation about having €1 million to spend, why not start a fundraising campaign for a worthy conservation cause? I'm sure there's many on here who would contribute to something well thought out.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Judgement Day wrote: »

Instead of idle speculation about having €1 million to spend, why not start a fundraising campaign for a worthy conservation cause? I'm sure there's many on here who would contribute to something well thought out.

Many already do this through efforts such as Birdwatch Ireland appeals, BTO projects, Irish Whale and Dolphin group, Irish wildlife trust, local wildlife groups - even indirectly by taxes to fund European and Irish Regional Development funds, etc.

Markcheese

Pick an area, wilder and more diverse the better, contact as many land owners as possible... Offer to pay the farmer for access and any conservation work done...( bonus dor sympathetic farming practices)hikeing and trekking tracks and guided tours to be charged for and reinvested in area... And the more research and gov/eu conservation schemes and funding the better...
1 million prob wouldn't go far ...

magicbastarder

Judgement Day wrote: »

Instead of idle speculation about having €1 million to spend, why not start a fundraising campaign for a worthy conservation cause? I'm sure there's many on here who would contribute to something well thought out.

i'd say the million would have the best ROI if you could effectively use it to raise awareness of environmental issues; irish people in general do not show much interest in environmental issues; as an example, the irish ecological NGOs tend to have a per capita membership one tenth of what their counterparts would be in the UK. take birdwatch ireland as an example; they have 14,000 members, whereas the RSPB has a membership of over one million.

maybe targetting primary schools to get kids interested would be one way of spending the money.

OpenYourEyes

Tinsley Itchy Sandlot wrote: »

Definitely Manx Shearwaters on Great Saltee. I ringed them there many years ago. Mink is new to me and if it's true then the whole million should be sent straight to a programme to eliminate them

Were they breeding there though?

....nevermind, just found out that they are! Doing a seabird survey out there tomorrow so hopefully will get to see some up close!

OpenYourEyes

magicbastarder wrote: »

i'd say the million would have the best ROI if you could effectively use it to raise awareness of environmental issues; irish people in general do not show much interest in environmental issues; as an example, the irish ecological NGOs tend to have a per capita membership one tenth of what their counterparts would be in the UK. take birdwatch ireland as an example; they have 14,000 members, whereas the RSPB has a membership of over one million.

maybe targetting primary schools to get kids interested would be one way of spending the money.

Birdwatch have started fundraising for educational efforts recently too!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Were they breeding there though?

....nevermind, just found out that they are! Doing a seabird survey out there tomorrow so hopefully will get to see some up close!

They nest in rabbit burrows from May usually and only come to the nests in the dark. Unless you know where they are and have good flashlights you will probably only hear their eerie cries in the dark.

Capercaille

Buy 200 acres of land in West for Corncrakes and use the money that's left for creation of early plant cover beds.

Birdnuts

Capercaille wrote: »

Mink are on the Saltee Islands now. If they establish there you can say goodbye to the Puffins, Manx Shearwaters etc.

I strongly suspect that mink have recently arrived on Insederry island in Broadhaven Bay which is only a few km from my small farm which also borders Broadhaven. I trap as many mink as I can but unfortuntly this infestation appears to orginate from the opposite end of the bay near Barnatra. My reasoning for this is that in the last few years the Common Gull and Common Tern colony on Carrowmore lake has collapsed with signs of mink having arrived on Dereens island which is at the Barnatra end of the lake.
My fears for a similar colony on that island in Broadhaven is due to the fact that the number of breeding pairs of these species this year appear to be only a fraction of past years. I have contacted the local NPWS about this and they are sending out people to assess the situation with a view to getting their own trapper in position if needed

Birdnuts

Anyone play Euromillions this evening??:P Dear god what I could do with that amount of cash(140m)!!:pac::D:P

magicbastarder

no winner...
i'd buy louth and clear all the humans off it.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

magicbastarder wrote: »

no winner...
i'd buy louth and clear all the humans off it.

How dare you! My native county! Plenty of environmentally responsible people here, who do great conservation work.

Might be better to buy parts of the country that need re-wilding before buying an area already rich in wildlife.

magicbastarder

you could buy 15% of coillte with that money, based on the figures which have been bouncing around about the sale/non-sale of it.

Judgement Day

magicbastarder wrote: »

you could buy 15% of coillte with that money, based on the figures which have been bouncing around about the sale/non-sale of it.

I thought Bertie had Coillte in the bag?

magicbastarder

there's never been any proper public confirmation of whether thery will or won't sell coillte, plus i'd say FG would have enda's head on a stick if they agreed to sell it to IFF.
the last i can remember was speculation that coillte and bord na mona would be amalgamated into a larger bio-energy based company.

magicbastarder

So I spoke too soon; it was announced this afternoon that the cabinet have decided against a sale.

markfinn

Promotion of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. Nothing else will make the slightest bit of difference on nature's time-scales.

robp

Tinsley Itchy Sandlot wrote: »

Many already do this through efforts such as Birdwatch Ireland appeals, BTO projects, Irish Whale and Dolphin group, Irish wildlife trust, local wildlife groups - even indirectly by taxes to fund European and Irish Regional Development funds, etc.

Maybe so but I think a tighter project like rewilding a valley project would captivate imagination and generosity in a way other projects don't.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

robp wrote: »

Maybe so but I think a tighter project like rewilding a valley project would captivate imagination and generosity in a way other projects don't.

What's different between that project and any other sustainable, laudable conservation projects?. Not disputing it's merit, I just can't see what would capture imaginations or stimulate generosity for that particular venture. Apologies if this aside is drifting off topic.

robp

Tinsley Itchy Sandlot wrote: »

What's different between that project and any other sustainable, laudable conservation projects?. Not disputing it's merit, I just can't see what would capture imaginations or stimulate generosity for that particular venture. Apologies if this aside is drifting off topic.

I am a member of the Irish wildlife trust. They do great work. Yet as important as newt surveys, hedgerow campaigns and badger protection are I don't think they draw and concentrate attention and goodwill as a big eye catching project would.

I would stress habitat creation not habitat conservation. Very few Irish groups create habitat and the ones that do are very small like the Native Woodland Trust.