Mooney Goes Wild Monday 20 January 2020
Back from the Brink is a one-hour programme that plans to celebrate the hard work, dedication, and commitment of conservationists who are striving to save endangered species from extinction. Here, Derek Mooney discusses this unique, pan-European natural history event.
I've been working in natural history broadcasting for over 30 years now. In that time, I’ve seen some truly wonderful sights, but I’ve also seen first-hand the problems that wildlife is facing, both in Ireland and around the globe. There has been a growing awareness amongst the general public, particularly in the last few years, of the threats to our environment and biodiversity.
In many ways, this has been long overdue, but I’m also aware that for a lot of people the current state of our planet can seem overwhelming, even depressing. We are increasingly bombarded by tales of doom and gloom. Issues like climate change and animal extinction are too often made to seem insurmountable, as though tragedy is a foregone conclusion, but that’s simply not true. It’s not too late to help nature.
We need to find a way to bring some much-needed optimism back into the conservation. That’s definitely what attracted me most to Back from the Brink. Through my work over the years on Mooney Goes Wild, in particular, I have met thousands of dedicated scientists and conservationists out there, fighting hard to save endangered species and working miracles. By telling some of their stories, I thought we could inspire people and show that there is every reason for hope.
Nature is resilient, and if given a chance it can recover from all sorts of abuse. It was once thought that the Red Kite, a stunning bird of prey, was lost forever from Irish skies, shot and poisoned to extinction. To see dozens of them now flying over the Co. Wicklow countryside again, all thanks to the dedication of people who simply weren’t prepared to give up, was a humbling and inspirational experience.
The same goes for the enormous efforts that I witnessed to safeguard the growing populations of Wolves in Italy, Brown Bears in Spain and Eurasian Beavers in The Netherlands, to give a few key examples from the programme. Perhaps the most sobering part for me personally was seeing the dramatic effects that climate change has wrought on the Swiss Alps, where glaciers are rapidly melting and high mountain habitats are disappearing, along with the unique animals that live there. Even then, against all the odds, people are fighting back.
Back from the Brink is not just a story about animals. At its core, it’s really a story about people. We, humans, have caused our planet’s problems, but people are also the key to fixing them. Literally every conservationist I interviewed for the programme spoke with such passion about their work, coupled with an unshakeable belief that what they were doing was utterly worthwhile, and I think that shines through on the screen. It must do because even the production crews, and there were many across Europe, not least our own team here in Ireland, headed by Colm Crowley from RTÉ Cork and scientific advisor Niall Hatch, were totally dedicated to this project.
We want to empower as many of those viewers as possible, and to reinforce the truth that every single one of us can play a role in saving endangered species and the wider environment. It’s not just about doing your bit – it takes much more than a bit, it takes a lot! – but about understanding that we need to accept fundamental changes to the way in which we live our lives. Having seen what can be achieved when the will is there, it will be well worth it, believe me.
Watch Back from the Brink at 6:30pm on Monday, 30th of December on RTÉ One.
Mooney Goes Wild
Derek Mooney and guests explore the natural world in all its forms.
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It’s one of our rarest, most elusive birds, currently teetering on the edge of extinction but could the Corncrake be about to make a comeback, thanks to a multimillion euro cash boost?
It’s the perfect time of year to make a date before dusk to witness one of nature’s most spectacular sights when thousands of Starlings move as one.
And protecting nature and wildlife at the heart of our capital city as the grounds of Áras an Uachtaráin come under an ecological spotlight.
Derek is joined by Dr. Richard Collins and Éanna Ní Lamhna in studio.
The Corncrake
It was once the backing track of early summer. It was heard by our parents as they walked to country schools. Once plentiful in all 32 counties - the numbers fell to just 136 calling birds in 2011 – a decrease of 85% since the 1970s. They are now found only on the western fringes and islands.
The Corncrake visits our shores between April and September each year and, while currently at risk of extinction, a new project aims to reverse its decline. Ireland has recently won €4.3 million from the EU to fund a five-year conservation project for this endangered species.
Dr Barry O’Donoghue is head of Agri-ecology with the National Parks and Wildlife Service at the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and he joins us for a chat.
Starlings
If you had the choice to go absolutely anywhere and witness any wildlife whatsoever in the natural world, where and what would it be?
Would it be to watch magnificent orcas and humpback whales swimming in Norway’s magical fjords? Would it be to see beautiful brown bears skilfully fishing for salmon in Alaskan waters? Or would it be to marvel at Mexican free-tailed bats living in vast colonies in underground caves and swooping into moonlit skies?
Or why not, on second thoughts, stay much closer to home and savour one of the most spectacular sights in nature which is taking place right now, right here in Ireland. Just before dusk, as the skies slowly begin to darken, allow yourself to be bewitched by mesmerising starling murmurations!
Made up of hundreds to thousands of starlings swirling through the skies in unison, the murmurations occur just before the birds swoop down and settle into their roost for the night. Such awe inspiring aerial displays can be seen right across the country but there’s one particular place in Belfast, just above Albert Bridge, where I love to go at this time every year. The starlings have been roosting beneath the bridge for more than twenty years and their shape shifting spectacles are simply stunning. Derek met up with Anne-Marie McDevitt’s who is RSPB NI Head of Species.
BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH
The RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch is asking people across Northern Ireland to take an hour at any point between 25th -27th January to count the birds in their garden and let them know what they see.
Click on this link to discover more: rspb.org.uk/birdwatch
Presented by Derek Mooney & Richard Collins and produced by Derek Mooney.
Each year, from late October through to February, hundreds of thousands of Starlings come together to form magnificent aerial displays just before they roost. Why do they do it? In this special programme, Starlings, Derek Mooney and Dr. Richard Collins investigate one of nature's greatest spectacles: Starling murmurations... Click here to find out more about this documentary.
Áras an Uachtaráin and Phoenix Park Biodiversity audit
Increasingly our weather seems to be anything but predictable, with gardens already waking up from their winter slumber. Snowdrops are coming into bloom and shoots of daffodils and wild plants are eagerly peeping above the ground.
Wherever you are, nature’s steady stirring can be keenly felt, but if you’re living in or visiting Dublin, a trip at this time of year to the Phoenix Park, the largest walled park in Europe, can be one that’s hard to beat.
With almost two thousand acres of green space, the park enjoys an incredible richness of flora and fauna, from its iconic wild deer to its vast deciduous tree cover to its diverse mammal and bird species. But just like a Russian doll, within that magnificent wildlife haven lies another refuge, which is the one hundred and thirty acre grounds of Áras an Uachtaráin.
President Michael Higgins is currently welcoming a team of ecologists from Trinity College Dublin to conduct a detailed, year-long "biodiversity audit", in order to protect this natural environment, both now and into the future.
Photo - Terry Flanagan
Our reporter, Terry Flanagan, recently went to the Aras to find out more and the first person he spoke with was Margaret Gormley, Chief Park Superintendent with the Office of Public Works, which has joined forces with Trinity in conducting this new study.
Second Chance Archive
Have another chance to hear some of our Mooney Goes Wild programmes uncovered from the RTÉ Radio 1 archive. Click the links below for more information.
The Dance of the Cuckoos - Mooney Goes Wild Special
The Blue Whale - Mooney Goes Wild Special
Feathers - Mooney Goes Wild Special
Bergen Whale - Mooney Goes Wild Special
Sparrows - Mooney Goes Wild Special
Wildlife Film Makers - Mooney Goes Wild Special
The Common Swift - Mooney Goes Wild Special
E-mail: mooney@rte.ie Facebook: facebook.com/rtenature Twitter: @NatureRTE
Ireland and Climate Change: Are we up for it? Professor John Sweeney - Maynooth University
When the countries of the world assembled for the now famous Rio Earth Summit in 1992 to adopt the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, they undertook to take the necessary steps to prevent ‘dangerous’ climate change. Defining what was dangerous proved a difficult task, however, and largely as a result of the European Union’s prodding, a value of 2oC warming above pre-industrial times was generally adopted as the criterion. Gradually the rest of the world fell into line with this, except the Small Island Developing States of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. For them this was something that would have condemned their island homes to submergence beneath the rising sea. So when the Paris Agreement emerged in 2015, it had a nuanced objective: "to hold increases in global temperatures to well below 2 °C and pursue efforts to limit increase to 1.5 °C." To flesh out what the 1.5oC target would actually mean, the Conference asked the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to produce a Special Report, which they did in October of last year.
The report confirmed that significantly greater climate problems would be experienced at a warming of 1.5oc compared to the present day, even though we have already warmed by 1oC over pre-industrial levels. These would include increases in extremes of heat and heavy rainfall events in several regions, accompanied by more frequent and more intense droughts. But most worrying was the realisation that the remaining carbon budget to avoid this warming would only last for a decade or two at the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions. After this budget was exhausted the carbon would be in the atmosphere for a century or more. Globally, emissions needed to fall by 45% on 2010 levels by 2030. It was this realisation that galvanised many groups and energised many individuals around the world, culminating in the mass protests we see around us. This was true, even in an Ireland whose compliance with its international obligations are failing miserably and its laggard status approaching the level of a national shaming. As a developed country with historical responsibility, we should be bearing more of the burden of tackling this problem than most other countries. Instead our per capita emissions are 50% higher than the EU average and place us as the second worst contributor to climate change on a per capita basis within the EU. The recently released 2018 figures confirm we are now 5M tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over the limit we agreed solemnly with our EU partners over a decade ago.
At the same time as we declared a climate emergency in Ireland this year we also declared a biodiversity emergency. This was in recognition that Ireland was also experiencing serious threats to its species and habitats, partly due to climate and also a number of other drivers, such as agricultural intensification. Another UN report in spring 2019 confirmed that human actions are now threatening more species with global extinction than ever before. The current rate of species extinction is 10-100 times higher than it has averaged over the past 10 million years. Around 1 million species already face extinction, many within decades.
In Ireland, our peatland, coastal marsh and mountain habitats are particularly at risk. 29 different bird species and 120 species of flowering plants are in serious decline. Some bird species such as the Corn Bunting and Corncock have become extinct. Others such as the Curlew have been decimated and many species such as the pearl mussel, bumblebee, barn owl and marsh fritillary butterfly face serious threats. At the same time invasive species are moving into newly favourable ecological niches providing additional competition and stress to native species.
Ireland has warmed by 0.5oC over the past 30 years and is likely to warm by a similar amount over the next 2-3 decades. This will have impacts on our growing season, making crops like maize much more feasible to grow. However, projected changes in rainfall are likely to be the main climate change problem Ireland will face. Already we are seeing an increase in intense rainfall events. Increased winter flood problems will result and the government will need to find €1B of taxpayers’ money to protect against future events. Winter storms are also likely to become more problematical. Winter 2013/14 was the stormiest winter in Ireland for at least 143 years. Winter 2015/16 was the wettest winter on record over half of Ireland. Former hurricanes such as Ophelia and Lorenzo pose additional late autumn threats which are likely to increase as the Atlantic warms and summer droughts will bring their own difficulties for agriculture and municipal water supplies. All in all, it is changing weather extremes which will bring the message of climate change home to Irish people and instil in them the urgency of playing a constructive role in international negotiations.
Conscious that it their legacy that is under threat, young people have been in the vanguard of protest. The ‘Fridays for Future’ schools protest has taken up the baton of Greta Thunberg who has become the icon that communicates the reality of climate change more effectively than a hundred graphs and tables. Armed with the factual knowledge of the Green Schools, it is to these inspirational leaders that the rest of society must now turn. The time for tinkering around the edges with excuses about efficiency or identifying ‘low hanging fruit’ on the basis of economic cost benefit curves is now over. The problem is now an ethical one of intergenerational equity, one where scientists can no longer be labelled ‘alarmists’ but rather ‘realists’. In an emergency the unthinkable has to be considered and Ireland is now at a crossroads where the next decade will determine what legacy we leave to the next generation. It’s an awesome responsibility. Are we up for it or not?
Professor John Sweeney is Ireland’s foremost climatologists and was a lecturer at Maynooth University’s Geography Department for 40 years until his recent retirement. Over the past 30 years he has published approximately 60 scientific papers and edited and co-authored texts on various aspects of climatology and climate change in Ireland.
Hedgerows
Statement from BirdWatch Ireland, Thurs Feb 28th 2019:
BirdWatch Ireland wishes to remind the public, local authorities and contractors that hedge-cutting is NOT permitted between 1st March and 31st August inclusive, except in the case of any of the derogations permitted under the Wildlife Act 1976, as amended. The Heritage Act 2018 gives the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the power to make certain changes to these dates, but it is important to note that, as yet, the Minister has not done so. As a result, the usual dates when hedge-cutting is prohibited currently remain unchanged.
It is an offence to 'cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy hedgerows on uncultivated land during the nesting season from 1 March to 31 August, subject to certain exceptions'. For more information, click here. To read the Heritage Bill 2016, as passed by Dáil Éireann on July 5th 2018, click here. To read the Heritage Act 2018, click here.
To contact your local wildlife ranger, click here for contact details. To read the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000, click here.
Caring For Wild Animals
Please note that many species of mammals, birds, invertebrates etc... are protected under law and that, even with the best of intentions, only someone holding a relevant licence from the National Parks & Wildlife Service should attempt the care of these animals. For full details, please click here to read the NPWS Checklist of protected & rare species in Ireland. If you are concerned about a wild animal, please contact your local wildlife ranger - click here for details.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Please DO NOT send any live, dead or skeletal remains of any creature whatsoever to Mooney Goes Wild. If you find an injured animal or bird, please contact the National Parks & Wildlife Service on 1890 20 20 21, or BirdWatch Ireland, on 01 281-9878, or visit www.irishwildlifematters.ie
Mooney Goes Wild
Contact the Show
Presenter: Derek Mooney
Series Producer: Ana Leddy