Mayo wildlife devastated by gorse fires

Wildlife devastated by gorse fires


Trevor Quinn

Birdwatch Ireland has said that the recent spate of gorse fires in Mayo will have a profound effect on wildlife in Mayo for many years to come.
One of the worst of the fires, which raged over the May Bank Holiday weekend, saw the destruction of four square kilmotres of bog and forestry at Ross, a townland between Castlebar and Pontoon. The land included an extensive area of habitable scrub for endangered wildlife.
According to figures released by Coillte, over 250 hectares of land was destroyed by fires in the Mayo/Galway region. The amount of forests destroyed last week is four times the national average over the last ten years.

Nesting season
Speaking to The Mayo News last Thursday, Niall Hatch of Birdwatch Ireland said the effects have been ‘enormous’, adding that the gorse fires could not have occurred at a worse time. “It is the height of the nesting season, and even if adult birds were able to escape, their eggs and their chicks would have certainly perished.” John Murphy, also of Birdwatch Ireland, said the figure for lost chicks and eggs was in the ‘tens of thousands’.
The past two severe winters have seriously challenged a wide variety of bird species and wildlife. Birdwatch Ireland believes the alarming fall in bird numbers will have been accelerated significantly by the recent fires, making it more difficult for many species to breed. Suitable breeding sites have been lost, and this, coupled with the destruction of hundreds of square kilometres of land where insects, seeds, buds and other food sources were once plentiful, will cause major problems.
The organisation believes that the worst-affected species include the red grouse, the grasshopper warbler, the linnet, the whitethroat, the dunnock, the curlew, the blackbird, the meadow pipet and the twite.

Extinction possible
The twite, a member of the finch family, is sadly on the verge of extinction, with only 100 breeding pairs reported to be in the country this time last year. The bird’s ideal habitat is heather and gorse, and its main breeding grounds are Co Mayo and Co Donegal. The small finch is unusual because its primary food source is seeds.
Scrubland is vital to the well-being of this bird. Without a plentiful supply of scrub and subsequently the cover and array of seed and other food sources which it provides, the outlook for the species is now even more uncertain.
The scrub is not just an important source of for food for the twite, it is also needed for protection and defence against potential threats. The twite uses the scrub as a shelter. The vulnerable chicks are free to forage for food undisturbed. “The removal of this cover is very serious,” said Hatch.
“Birds like the stonechat and the whitethroat will also have been very badly affected. The gorse is their ideal territory and that will pose significant problems. They will have lost their first clutch of eggs and they won’t get the opportunity to nest again. The gorse itself can bounce back, but birds, butterflies, moths, plants and vegetation can take years,” he said.
Murphy explained that “in Ireland, the grass that grows in the aftermath of such fires benefits cattle and sheep only and not the birds and food sources that previously inhabited the area.”

Cuckoo suffering
Hatch says the popular cuckoo, another species accustomed to thriving in the terrains of the bogland and moorland, is suffering badly.
“The cuckoo relies on the nests of other birds,” he explained, adding that the already-low cuckoo numbers will now be under considerable threat as a result of the gorse fires.

Fires deliberate
Gardaí have indicated that they believe a considerable number of the gorse fires were started deliberately. This is a very worrying occurrence, Hatch says. “It’s a very serious concern and we’re very alarmed at the moment. Action needs to be taken. The burning has to stop, and we need to see proper enforcement of the law. Anybody who has any information on individuals who are starting these fires deliberately or who sees anyone acting suspiciously should contact the Gardaí or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) immediately.”
While youths are being predominantly blamed for the fires in Co Donegal and to a certain degree here in Co Mayo, Hatch believes farmers may be responsible for starting the gorse fires. Only land which is deemed as ‘utilisable’ is eligible for farmers hoping to maximise their income under the Single Payment Scheme funded by the Department of Government.
In a time of economic recession, the prospect of this extra funding encourages farmers to burn scrub land to clear land. “Farmers are afraid they will lose their Single Farm Payments, which is an issue,” Hatch asserted. “It’s incredible the damage these fires are doing. Someone will die eventually. People’s property can go up in flames, and lives can be destroyed. Our eco system and Ireland’s reputation as a tourist destination is also being affected.”