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Tag: Community

Hidden Donegal

November 19, 2016November 19, 2016 ~ www.ancaoradubh.ie ~ Leave a comment

Over the past few months, I have been involved with the Community Development Group here in my local village. The group was dormant for a number of years, but reinstated in February 2016 with new members and a renewed focus.

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Aranya CHCDG Community Compost coppice Design Dulra Education Elaine Ingham Grazing hedgerow Holistic Management Ireland PDC Permaculture Sheep silvopasture Soil soil microbiology trees Woodland

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Spent a very stimulating day with @joannebutlerourganic doing some bud grafting on a #permaculture site in Monaghan, which I helped design toward the end of last year. Today we were #grafting mainly apple, cherry and pear varieties; it’s great to see this place develop at such pace, a real credit to those who are putting energy into manifesting their vision! • On the way back home, we stopped into Eagle Ridge Community Gardens in #castleblayney to visit John McKeown and what may be Ireland’s smallest native tree nursery! John has a wealth of experience growing trees from seed and it was hugely inspiring to see thousands of young trees in such a small space. ALL THAT POTENTIAL....!!! Plenty of ideas to take back the glen for the future of the #ancaoradubh project!

Spent a couple of hours on crow patrol last night... • The crow (greybacks) & rook population around here seems to have exploded this year! Has anyone else noticed this is other areas? The second part to this post is a video from an early morning last week in #falcarragh , where there were literally hundreds hanging around! Hitchcock would be proud... • These are incredibly intelligent animals and I have a huge respect for them. I know that being out in a location with the shotgun, coupled with the odd 💥bang, will be enough for them to change their behaviour and avoid parts of the farm where I am trying to promote biodiversity; it’s not about how many I can down in an outing, it’s about balance and behaviour change. As much as I do enjoy the cheekiness and curiosity of these creatures, I have also witnessed firsthand how devastating they can be to songbird and livestock populations if they are not deterred.

Good morning Donegal! This county never fails to impress... #nofilter • Sunrise o’er #hornheaddonegal this morning, as viewed from #falcarragh

Another beautiful night on the trail of the #corncrake ; this time on #inishirrer in #gweedore Bay. • These offshore islands are fast becoming the last refuge for the #corncrake here in #ireland as these once-common birds are being pushed to the very fringes of our land, largely by changes in land use, modern farming practices and increased predation on the mainland (often by domestic cats...!). • I consider myself lucky to have the opportunity to visit these forgotten corners. Those generations who made their lives and livelihoods in such a challenging environ must’ve been incredibly tough, but there’s definitely something enchanting in the timelessness and serenity of this spot on a night like this. Not bad as nightshifts go...

Scorching day today...! Hoping this Shou Sugi Ban technique will extend the life of this siding on the new office for a few years. Time will tell, but it sure was therapeutic...! Full build pics to come! • #ecobuild #cabinporn #shousugiban

A little bit more magic than usual in the glen this evening...

Great weather for a wee spin in to Tory Island yesterday to carry out the first of this year’s offshore #Corncrake census and take part in the @rteone #dawnchorus programme. •ou Lots of Corncrake activity already and let me tell you, these fellas aren’t shy at the start of the breeding season! It was incredible to hear them compete for attention within metres of the An Club with their calls echoing off the buildings! • #conservation #wildlifeconservation #birdwatchireland #wildatlanticway #wildatlanticwaydonegal #donegal #toryisland

Forget carbon neutral, our farms can be CARBON NEGATIVE! • This is a hugely important step in the #regenerativeagriculture debate - an independent carbon lifecycle assessment recently published indicates that @whiteoakpastures are sequestering at least 100% of carbon emissions from their beef operation through an #holisticmanagement approach, focussing on soil and ecosystem health. @whiteoakpastures is a carbon sink!!! • There is an increasing body of evidence supporting approaches such as holistic planned grazing to improve ecosystem functions and sequester carbon. Link to the report on the @whiteoakpastures bio.

This little dude having a real barney with himself this morning at @joannebutlerourganic ...! 🤣

There’s a stark beauty to the barren hillsides of #donegal, but this landscape tells its own tale. One of degeneration and an ecosystem that is stressed to its very limits. • To consider this landscape in any way “natural” is way wide of the mark, in truth, there are probably no remaining “natural” habitats in Ireland; all bear the mark of “management” in one way or another. Our modern Donegal vista is the product of a degenerative cycle, beginning with the clearance of scrub and woodland to make way for cultivation and the intensification of livestock farming (particularly sheep) and ending with the introduction of #reddeer for sport in the 1800’s - now no longer managed in anything more than a piecemeal manner. • The American economist and geographer J. Russell Smith pointed to the degenerative cycle of “Forest-field-plough-desert” in his seminal work “Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture”. The bitter irony of this important book is that it was published in 1929, just a few short years before the onset of the US #dustbowl, one of the worst examples of the degenerative management in agricultural history. In ecological terms, perhaps the Donegal uplands may be more accurately described as a wet desert - in it’s current state it certainly lacks the biodiversity and capacity for carbon and nutrient cycling that it has the potential to support. Conventional management practices are sustaining this ecological stagnation. • Part of the A.C.D vision is to regenerate the ecosystem within which we operate. We do this using the #holisticmanagement model. We use animal impact to stimulate natural systems, then carefully manage rest periods and protect regeneration to ensure we are building resilience through diversity at each iteration. A necessary part of management in our context is managing the artificially high deer population in our area so that natural regeneration can occur. In the absence of predators, the burden falls to us as custodians to take on this role and to ensure it is done in a safe, humane and considered manner. Completing the HCAP Deer Stalking assessment with #countrysportsireland was another step in that process. Big thanks to Ronan and team!

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