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SHERKINCOMMENT

Mapping & Monitoring the Environment

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“S“Sttand ofand off” at the South f” at the South AtlanticAtlanticPhotographer: Paul KayPhotographer: Paul Kay

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....................................................................................................................................................................Sherkin Comment 2005 – Issue No. 39

ContentsEDITORIAL: An Independent Review is Essential

Matt Murphy’s view on the needs of the marinesector in Ireland.

Golden Plovers............................................................3Oscar Merne tells us about one of our mostnumerous migratory wintering waders.

Irish Eyes on Nature ................................................................4Ireland’s contribution to garden writing is outlined byJohn Akeroyd.

There’s more to reed than meets the eye ................................5Jenifer Baker on this valuable member of the grassfamily.

The Fire Mountains of Lanzarote ..........................................6Anthony Toole on the Timanfaya National Park.

Faroe: The Unknown Islands......................................8Daphne Mould sheds a little light on theseisolated islands.

A Spotlight on World Environmental Matters ......................9Interesting news on the world’s environment fromAlex Kirby.

Litter Action & Local Image ................................................10An important and informative leaflet from ENFO.

The Fishing Industry must change ......................................11Jason Whooley looks to the future of the fishing industry.

Fisheries & Hydroelectric Schemes ..........................12A fisheries environmental perspective from PatriciaO’Connor.

Air Pollution: Asking the Questions ....................................13Alex Kirby asks some tough questions of all of us.

Chairperson of An Bord Pleanála strongly defends theBoard’s independence ..........................................14John O’Connor expresses his views.

A trip of a lifetime to the South Atlantic........15/16/17Paul Kay’s adventure on the high seas.

Mapping & Monitoring the Environment ..........................18The Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland,Peadar McArdle talks to Matt Murphy.

Origins of the Acid Rain Problem in North Americaand its Effects on Aquatic Ecosystems........20Tom Clair highlights this air pollution problem.

Gurnards (Triglidae) in Irish and European Atlantic Seas ..21Declan Quigley on this relatively large family ofdemersal marine fishes.

Utilising manure and slurry while protecting human health ....22The EPA’s provides guidelines to assist farmers,farm managers, advisors, etc..

Danes see light at end of Irish waste tunnel ........................23Brendan Keane on how the Danes have made asuccess out of Irish waste.

Publications of Interest ............................................24The Ten Steps of Catching Specimen Fish ..........................25

A remarkable story of dedication to fishing fromBill Ryan.

Captain Cockle’s Log ................................................26More exciting facts from John Joyce.

Seabirds ..................................................................27BirdWatch Ireland keep you informed on bird matters.

Snappy Puzzle ..........................................................28Put your mind to the test with a jigsaw of the edible crab.

Nature Activities ......................................................29An activity to show how all living things in therockpool are interdependent.

Gold President Awards 2005 ....................................30Presentation of the Awards by President MaryMcAleese.

Storm Force/RNLI & BIM Recipe............................31A lifeboat puzzle and a recipe for “SoleBenedictine”

Trusting Science........................................................32Michael Ludwig on the ups and downs of science.

Editorial

An IndependentReview is EssentialBy Matt Murphy

THE development of our marineresources offers considerable prospects forjob and wealth creation at all levels:national, regional and local. Our marineresources offer unique opportunities foreconomic and social development, espe-cially along our south-west and west coastalareas. As a nation we have failed miserablyto develop these resources, especially whenone makes a comparison with other Euro-pean coastal countries, e.g. Norway.

We are at present seeing the decline inboth fish landings and farmed salmon, thelatter has declined by approximately 50% inthe last few years. This is a matter of graveconcern when account is taken of the levelof state and EU financial support granted tocompanies in the industry over the years.

Aquaculture is a very intensive technol-ogy-led industry and R&D is essential forfuture development. The Norwegians haveshown this to be so, yet here in Ireland,despite increased state support forResearch and Development (R&D) thereis little evidence of new species beingfarmed to offset the decline in farmedsalmon output.

One must accept that our strategy isseriously deficient and not working; thereis too much fragmentation in the wholeaquaculture industry. A rethink is urgentlyneeded in order to promote communica-tion, co-ordination and partnership amongthe various bodies, government depart-ments, state agencies, third levelinstitutions, industry and tourism. There isso much to be done in all areas. R&D,education, training, administration andabove all enterprise. Research institutionsand the industry must work together. Linksbetween business and academia must bestrengthened; the latter must be more real-istic and join the real world. This go italone attitude with all agencies/institutionsmust stop. No one organisation has all thenecessary expertise, knowledge, skills andresources to achieve the essential employ-ment that could be generated along oursouthwest and west coastline.

Ireland’s commercial fishing industry isnow in free fall; decommissioning oftrawlers is now a reality with the recentannouncement by the government offinancial incentives. Conservation areashave been introduced and more will come.The industry is critical of the scientists andwant direct participation in how theresearch is carried out. They believe therehas to be a partnership between fishermenand scientists. They want the Marine Insti-tute and their European colleagues to getreal in fish stock research. The process atthe moment does not quantify the actualfish landings. Heads are in the clouds andsome gale force winds are needed to clearthe air! There is a strong belief that ICES(International Council for the Explorationof the Seas) in Copenhagen are calling the

shots as to our fish stock resources. Weneed to show independence and think ofour fishermen first and worry less abouthow many committees we chair.

It is time to review where we are and todecide where we want to be in 10 yearstime with regard to our marine resources.An independent review is needed todevelop a policy with all those involved inthe marine sector, such as fisheries, aqua-culture, marine tourism, marineenvironment, role of government, stateagencies and third level institutions.

A model for delivering a national strat-egy for the future development of ourmarine resources already exists for thenon-marine sector throughout the country.This document, Ahead of the Curve,adopted by the Enterprise Strategy ReviewGroup, was published in summer 2004.The marine sector would benefit greatlyfrom a similar exercise. (www.enterprise-ireland.com)

It is imperative that the Marine Institutedoes not undertake such a review. Theyhave a vested interest in marine research atGalway and Abbotstown. A review wouldneed to be objective and independent inlooking at all research within the State.Along with this the Marine Institute haslost the confidence of many and are lookedon as being too self-centred and self-serv-ing. They are being perceived as wantingto control and keep most of the funding formarine research and then divide thecrumbs from the table between as manyinstitutions as possible. This policy ofspreading funding between so many iswrong. There is a huge waste in adminis-tration costs. The Marine Institute hasbeen most successful in attracting EUfunding to Ireland, but together with thehuge annual sum from the exchequer, it isimperative that we get value for money.The state scientists, pre-Marine Institute atAbbotstown, most now in retirement, mustbe so envious. In the 1970s and 1980s theywere often confined to their desks for longperiods as there was not even travel moneyavailable to go around the country to carryout research. The industry, both commer-cial fishing and aquaculture, welcomed thethen announcement of a new FisheriesResearch Centre which is now being builtat Oranmore, Co. Galway. However manyquery whether such a colossus was neces-sary at a cost of €50 million? Why theneed for an auditorium (see websitewww.marine.ie)? Is there a hiddenagenda? Are we seeing the foundations foryet another third level institution forhigher degrees for Master and PhDs?Indeed, the upkeep of the two buildingsunder construction will be a very heavyburden on the Marine Institute’s budgetand could affect research funding.

The philanthropist, Dr. Tony Ryan hasfunded the building of the Martin RyanInstitute in UCG and is generously fund-ing an extension. Let us have one marineresearch centre of academic excellence in

the country. We cannot afford two. Thegovernment has recently introduced a spe-cial fund for efficiency in the universities– the Marine Institute should take notice.

The Marine Institute has been most suc-cessful in creating a link with the NationalCancer Institute, Maryland US. One oftheir scientists visited Ireland in 2004 todiscuss Biotech R&D using marinespecies, especially those found off ourwest coast, in the Porcupine Bank region.He visited various Universities to speak totheir Biotech Departments and look attheir facilities. We have many excellentscientists in our institutions involved inBiotech research, who can deliver if fund-ing becomes available. The MarineInstitute must resist the temptation of get-ting involved with such research at theirnew fisheries research centre. Why wasteprecious funding on a new facility whenthese facilities are already available else-where in the country? While the MarineInstitute undoubtedly has major strengthsit is vital at this urgent point that they iden-tify their own weaknesses. We continuallyread of major multi-national companiesdivesting themselves of their non-coreoperations so as to concentrate on theircore products. The Marine Institute shouldembrace this. Their core products are fishrelated – commercial and aquaculture. Indoing so they should especially look at thetransfer of their salmon research at Fur-nace, Co. Mayo to the Central FisheriesBoard, who with the various fisheryboards, has the responsibility for the man-agement of our rivers and lakes, especiallysalmon and trout. This responsibilitysurely means that all research and man-agement into these species should beunder the auspices of the Central FisheriesBoard, which is the body most suitablypositioned to carry out this task.

The Marine Institute is central to thesuccess of the development of our marineresources. The onus is on the Marine Insti-tute to be successful in fulfilling itsmandate. There are huge reservations inmany quarters of the direction of theirpresent strategies. I have made someobservations on some of these. Regret-tably there are others which must also beaddressed before the Marine Instituteregains the confidence of many in industryand academia.

Prior to the establishment of the MarineInstitute the Minister for the Marine had aChief Scientific Advisor. Maybe the timehas come to give serious thought to creatingsuch a position again. He/she would giveindependent advice to the Minister. Thisadvice would be essential in the present cli-mate when such immense pressure is on ourfish stocks, fishermen and our future.

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Sherkin Comment 2005 – Issue No. 39 ....................................................................................................................................................................

By Oscar MerneI VIVIDLY recall back in

the 1970s, when I was doing alot of aerial surveys and cen-suses of wintering waterfowlin Ireland, flying north overthe callows of the River Shan-non and Little Brosna on a dayin mid-October. Being quiteearly in the winter season thenumbers of most waterfowlspecies were still fairly low,but the major exception wasthe huge flocks of GoldenPlovers, which had probablyjust arrived from their breed-ing grounds in Iceland. Therewere several flocks of between5,000 and 10,000 birds,totalling about 40,000 in all. Itwas a wonderful sight to seethe tight flocks, like clouds,wheeling and twisting in thesky before settling again afterthe aircraft passed by.

Golden Plovers are one ofthe most numerous of ourmigratory wintering water-fowl. However, they are ratherdifficult to census as theyoften occur in very largeflocks, and sometimes in areaswell away from the wetlandswhich support a variety of

other species. Nevertheless,counting of wintering water-fowl in Ireland since the 1970shas enabled us to build up apicture of their distributionhere, and an estimate of totalnumbers. We now believe thatat least 200,000 GoldenPlovers spend the winter here,the first few arriving in lateAugust, with major immigra-tion occurring in October andNovember. The birds stay untilApril, with the last disappear-ing northwards in early May.On first arriving, very largeflocks concentrate in a fewplaces, such as the callows,and these then break up anddisperse to about 45 main tra-ditional sites, holding at least2,000 birds each. The great

majority of these sites (c.36)are coastal (estuaries, shel-tered bays, polders, etc.),while the remainder areinland. At these sites observersgenerally find the GoldenPlovers roosting in denseflocks, with little feedingactivity evident. It’s not clearwhen and where many of theflocks actually feed: they mayengage in nocturnal foragingin grassland areas away fromthe wetlands. Several times atdusk, I saw c.5,000 GoldenPlovers flying back and forthlow over the sea off the northCo. Wexford coast nearCahore Point, but have no ideawhat they were up to. So thereare still some things to belearnt about the behaviour ofthese birds!

We know from looking atthe recoveries of ringed birdsthat the vast majority of ourwintering Golden Ploversbreed in Iceland, where thepopulation is estimated to be300,000 pairs. That’s 600,000adults, plus their young in theautumn. If the estimate of200,000 wintering in Ireland iscorrect, huge numbers must bemoving elsewhere for the win-ter – perhaps south along theAtlantic coast to France, Spainand Portugal, and as far asMorocco, all countries wherewintering Golden Plovers areknown to occur.

The Golden Plover isdivided into two distinct popu-lations or sub-species. Thatwhich breeds in the southernpart of the species’ range is(not surprisingly) known as theSouthern Golden Plover, thenominate sub-species Pluvialisapricaria apricaria, while thenorthern sub-species, which insummer has more intenseblack plumage from its bellyup to its eyes, is P. a. altifrons.It is the southern sub-specieswhich breeds in Ireland.

A hundred years ago GoldenPlovers were recorded asbreeding in fourteen countiesin Ireland, and possibly in afurther five. By 1968-72, whenthe first survey for the Atlas ofBreeding Birds in Britain andIreland took place, the rangeof the species had contractedconsiderably, with most of theremaining population confinedto Connemara, West Mayo, theuplands of Sligo and Leitrim,Donegal and Antrim. At thattime it was estimated thatnumbers were about 600 pairs,

and it is believed that thissmall breeding population hasdeclined further and may nownumber about 300 pairs. Cur-rently, Birdwatch Ireland,funded by the National Parks& Wildlife Service, is carryingout a survey and census ofupland breeding birds, includ-ing the Golden Plover, so wewill soon have an accuratetotal for the present breeding

population. The vulnerabilityof the relatively small breed-ing population of GoldenPlovers in the European Unionwas the reason for includingthe species in Annex I of theEU Birds Directive in 1979.This classification highlightsthe importance of applyingspecial conservation measuresfor the species and its habitat.

The reasons for the decline

in numbers of breedingGolden Plovers in Ireland, andthe contraction of their range,are not fully understood. How-ever, the great increase inforestry plantations in uplandpeatlands has probably con-tributed greatly. In addition,high stocking densities ofsheep in the uplands hasresulted in erosion and degra-dation of Golden Ploverhabitat, especially in the west.Increasing recreational distur-bance in the uplands may alsohave caused desertion of somebreeding areas. Avian andmammalian predation of eggsand chicks may also have con-tributed to the decline, whilethe impact of the growingnumber of upland windfarmshas not yet been fully evalu-ated. Mortality due to collisionwith the windfarm structures isone possible hazard, but dis-placement of birds due to thepresence of the turbines andthe associated disturbancemay also be a problem. Inorder to ensure the survival ofthe dwindling Golden Ploverbreeding population, effectiveconservation of the remainingnesting habitat is vital.

Oscar Merne recently retiredas head of the Bird ResearchSection of National Parks &Wildlife Service, Departmentof the Environment, Heritageand Local Government.

GoGoldldenenPlPloveroverss

Little Brosna Estuary, Cos. Offaly and Tipperary, where large flocks ofGolden Plover can be seen wheeling and twisting in the sky.

River Shannon callows.

It is believed that at least 200,000 Golden Plovers spend the winter inIreland. A major location is Bannow Bay, Co. Wexford.

Golden Plovers are one of the most numerous of our migratorywintering waders.

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By John AkeroydTHIS last winter the British

Library in London held anexhibition on ‘The Writer inthe Garden’. It took a broadview of garden writing, fromjournalism to novels, and oflandscape and styles of gar-dening – from aristocraticparks and pleasure gardens tomodern suburban plots.Reviewing this remarkableassemblage of books, quotesand illustrations, it struck meanew just how gardens, gar-dening and nature writing havepermeated English culture.Irish or Anglo-Irish writersmight have dominated otherliterary exhibits, but not per-haps one on garden writing.This genre has been somewhatmarginalised in Ireland,although Irish writers have akeen eye for landscape andcountryside; even those Irishsaints famously enjoyed closelinks with nature.

In fact, nobody can say thatIreland hasn’t made a signifi-cant contribution to gardenwriting. The early 18th cen-tury, when Dean Swift held

sway in Dublin with hismighty pen, saw the emer-gence of a strong Irish linkwith that English tradition. Atmy old school, Charterhouse,two great men of letters firstmet and became friends: quietEnglishman Joseph Addison(1672–1719) and fiery Irish-man Richard Steele(1672–1729). They went on tofound ‘The Spectator’ andother magazines, writing as ateam, and both held govern-ment posts in Ireland; henceAddison’s Walk, a double yewavenue at Glasnevin, and thenearby Addison Lodge pub(where friends and I plannedmany botanical excursions!).Addison probably never livedat Glasnevin but his youngerfriends Thomas Tickell andPatrick Delaney laid out infor-mal grounds – radical for thetime – on or near the site oftoday’s National Botanic Gar-den, established in 1795. Ingardening essays Addison pro-moted “Luxuriancy andDiffusion of Boughs andBranches” – rather than pre-cise layouts, his own plot “aConfusion” of controlled wild-ness. He influenced too the

garden of another friend, poetAlexander Pope (“All garden-ing is landscape painting”), bythe Thames near London.Pope’s friends includedDelaney, Swift and the greatlandscape architect WilliamKent. The stage was set for theparks and gardens that so rev-olutionised 18th centurylandscapes.

Proceeding to another cen-tury, in 1861 the head gardenerof a Leix estate, WilliamRobinson, moved to England.His book ‘The Wild Garden’(1870), in which he advocatedbog, woodland and naturalisticrock gardens rather than formalbedding, caused a sensation ingardening circles. He would bea major influence on Edwar-dian garden guru GertrudeJekyll, and together they wouldexpand the English passion for‘cottage gardens’, still fashion-able – even in TV programmesand each May at ChelseaFlower Show. Nature in thegarden well suits the Englishtemperament, but better still itsuits an Irish climate! MountUsher, Dereen, Garnish Islandand so many other great Irishgardens are the epitome of this

Robinsonian ideal, as embel-lished with subtropical andwarm-temperate exotica.

Back in Ireland, writerslooked to wild nature ratherthan gardens. Robinson’scareer overlapped the pre-1916 half-century “heyday ofIrish Botany” that I describedin Sherkin Comment 38. Thisfertile period spawned modernIrish natural history writing,notably the genius of RobertLloyd Praeger, his autobio-graphical ‘The Way that IWent’ (1934), a classic ofevocative scientific journal-

ism. Literary Ireland wasabsorbed elsewhere – althoughW.B. Yeats himself had been akeen naturalist in his youth,and a strong undercurrent ofnature exists in his work andthat of J.M. Synge and others.Even diehard freedom fighterErnie O’Malley, travellingundercover on foot or bicycleduring the Troubles of1919–22, often by night,recalled evocative images ofthe Irish countryside for hismemoirs. Irish writers haveperhaps avoided the conven-tional garden and nature

writing of their English coun-terparts, but possess their ownspecial voice – from the pan-theistic philosophy of JohnStewart Collis to E. CharlesNelson’s horticultural scholar-ship and Michael Viney’sinspirational essays in TheIrish Times.

Dr John Akeroyd, who hasstudied Irish plants for 25years, edited The Wild Plantsof Sherkin, Cape Clear andadjacent islands of West Cork(1996).

Irish Eyes on Nature

Ilnacullin (Garnish Island), Co. Cork, together with so many other great Irish gardens are the epitome of theRobinsonian ideal.

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Full Colour PrintingBrochures, Reports,MagazinesLeaflets & Booklets

Victoria Cross, CorkTelephone (021) 4545655Facsimile (021) 4342996


By Jenifer BakerTHE common reed (scien-

tific name Phragmitesaustralis) is a variable memberof the grass family and iswidespread in most parts ofthe world. Once established,clumps and patches of reedmay survive for a very longtime if the environmental con-ditions are relatively stable;some patches have been esti-mated to be about 1000 yearsold. The most obvious tradi-tional uses of reed beds are forthatch production and wildlifeconservation, and in someplaces (notably the Nether-lands) reed has also been usedfor stabilisation of mud flatson newly reclaimed polderland. Reed water consumptionis high and it is grown for afew years to dry out the polderand render it fit for arablefarming.

Its annual shoots, typicallygrowing 1 to 2.5 metres tall,will be familiar to most people,but there’s more to reed thanmeets the eye. Most of it –

sometimes as much as 90% ofit – consists of a perennialunderground system of rhi-zomes (creeping undergroundstems) and roots. These can godown to 2 metres or morebelow ground level, thoughmost of this underground bio-

mass is usually containedwithin the top 20 – 30 cm ofsoil.

Reed can be found in a vari-ety of habitats but it is mostusually associated with areassubject to flooding, wetlandssuch as marshes and fens,

estuaries and the edges oflakes. It tolerates a wide rangeof pH and nutrient values, andboth fresh and slightly salinewater. In static wet conditionsthe soil may be poorly oxy-genated, but reed is welladapted to this with an oxygendiffusion pathway leadingalong air spaces down theshoots to the underground rhi-zome system and roots. Henceif shoots cannot grow abovewater level, or if ice or wavesremove dead reeds in winterthus flooding the stubble, thesubsequent reed growth maybe limited because of pooroxygen supply.

Recent years have seenmuch interest in a new use forreed beds – treating sewageand other waste water. ‘RootZone Biotechnology’ involv-ing specially constructed reedbeds was pioneered by Profes-sor Reinhold Kickuth inGermany, and is now wide-spread, being used byorganisations such as WaterAuthorities. Water purifica-tion is carried out by thecombined action of physical,chemical and biological fac-tors such as sedimentation,flocculation, consumption bymicro-organisms, take-up bythe growing plants and loss tothe atmosphere. Thus the reedbed simultaneously acts as atrickling filter, a percolationfilter and a settling and diges-tion basin. Three key featuresof the plants which make thispossible are as follows:

• The processes of growthand natural die-back in theextensive underground sys-tem, create channelsthrough which water canpass.

• The underground systemintroduces oxygen, so aero-bic bacteria and othermicro-organisms can flour-ish on the huge surface areaprovided by all the rootsand rhizomes. Thesemicro-organisms are essen-tial for degrading the vari-ous compounds which maybe found in waste waster.

• The plants can take upsome of the waste watercompounds or degradationproducts, for example ni-trates resulting from bacte-rial oxidation of ammonia.Other pollutants (such as

metal compounds) may beimmobilised in the humicacid produced by theplants.

The excellent water clean-ing capability shown byspecially constructed reedbeds really makes one appreci-ate what a good job naturalreed beds have been doing allthe time!

Dr. Jenifer Baker has workedall round the world as anenvironmental scientist,specialising in oil spillresponse, and is currently atheological student.

TTHHEERREE’’SS MMOORREE TTOO RREEEEDDTTHHAANN MMEEEETTSS TTHHEE EEYYEE

Measuring reed performance,south-west England.

Reed in brackish conditions, Humber Estuary. A recent high tide hasleft a narrow band of oil trapped at the base of the stems. Here it willeventually degrade, without killing the reed.

Reed bed in high nutrient conditions, receiving agricultural run-off, south-west England.

Reed in low nutrient acid conditions, south Wales.

Reed bed nature reserve,Netherlands.

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GUIDED NATURE WALKSLeaving from the Park Centre at 10.30amJUNE – Monday, Wednesday & FridayJULY & AUGUST – Monday, Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday & FridayAs these walks cover rough, wet, boggyterrain, it is essential visitors haveappropriate footwear and rainwear

CONNEMARA PONY INFORMATIONHistory and Management of Connemara Ponies JULY & AUGUST – Monday, Wednesday & FridayFrom 2pm to 4pm

FUN WITH NATURE FOR KIDSChildrens activities for 5–12 year oldsJULY & AUGUSTTuesday, Wednesday and Thursday11.00am–1.00pmPlease bring boots and rainwearADULT MUST STAY WITH CHILD/CHILDREN

CONNEMARA NATIONAL PARKPHONE:095–41323/41054 FAX:095–41005

CONNEMARANATIONAL PARK

LETTERFRACK, CO GALWAYNATIONAL PARKS AND WILDLIFE

OPEN DAILYUNTIL 9TH OCTOBER 2005

APRIL & MAY10.00AM – 5.30PM

JUNE, JULY & AUGUST9.30AM – 6.30PM

SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER10AM – 5.30PM

CHARGES: Adult €2.75 Family €7.00 Child/Student €1.25 Senior/Group (20+) €2.00

TEA ROOMHome baking with

Teas, Coffee,Cakes,Salads, Sandwiches,

SoupsGroups catered for

WHAT TO SEE AND DO IN THE PARK

· Exhibition on the Connemara Landscape(multi-lingual)

· Audio Visual Show (multi-lingual)· Information Desk· Connemara Ponies· Picnic areas (Indoor and Outdoor)· Tea Room· Nature Trails· Postcards, Maps, Booklets


By Anthony TooleWITH its rubble-strewn landscape, arid cli-

mate and sparse vegetation, Lanzarote lookslike an island under construction, which indeedit is. While the landmass was created by vol-canic activity over the past 17 million years,about a quarter of its present area grew out of aseries of eruptions that occurred from 1730 to1736. Much of the south-western end of theisland owes its appearance to this period of vol-canism, together with a smaller eruption thatoccurred in 1824.

So recent was this activity that the colonisa-tion of the lava by plants, and its conversioninto soil, are at an early stage, and the land isstill centuries away from a steady state. Thismakes it an ideal natural laboratory for the sci-entific study of land evolution.

In 1974, 5107 hectares (19.7 square miles) ofthe most pristine land around Timanfaya wasdeclared a National Park. In 1993, UNESCOdeclared it a Biosphere Reserve, and the fol-lowing year, the European Community made ita Special Protection Area for Birds.

Because of the fragility and importance of thelandscape, 96% of the National Park area isreserved strictly for scientific use. Motoristsentering the National Park from the mainthrough road must leave their vehicles at the carpark of the Islote de Hilario. Only by coach, can

they see the real glories of the Montanas delFuego – the Fire Mountains.

At the car park itself is the ‘El Diablo’ restau-rant, where the highest temperature in theNational Park has been recorded at 610oC, 13metres beneath the surface rocks. Because ofthe intense heat, special foundations had to belaid to avoid overheating in the buildings.

A 5–metre-deep pit, inside the restaurant,serves as an oven. The temperature at the mouthof the pit reaches 200oC, whilst hot air enteringfrom the side walls can rise to 350oC. Just out-side the restaurant is a set of underground metalpipes into which water can be poured to createan artificial geyser. A further demonstration ofgeothermal energy is seen nearby, in the burn-ing of gorse cuttings in a 1.5–metre-deep pit,where temperatures at the bottom have beenmeasured at 245oC.

The Mancha Blanca Visitors’ Centre standsoutside the park itself, 4 km north of the bound-ary. Its true size is camouflaged by its beingthree-quarters submerged in the surroundinglava field. The building contains offices and anexhibition of the volcanology, flora and faunaof the area, explained with the aid of impressivevideo and interactive displays, with spoken andwritten text in Spanish, German and English. Ithas won several National prizes for its architec-ture.

A service offering guided walking trails wasintroduced in the Park in 1990 to give visitors a

more intimate view of the geology and biologyof Timanfaya. The shorter walk follows a 3.5-kilometre trail at the southern edge, and issuitable for school or family parties. A moredemanding 9-kilometre walk takes a coastalpath, where the lava meets the sea, and rapidcolonisation by marine life is taking place.

The most important work in the NationalPark occurs out of sight of the tourist. In the late1980s, a laboratory for scientific research wasestablished at an old dromedary shed in the cen-tre of the park. This is concerned largely with astudy of volcanology and seismic processes,together with monitoring and the assessment of

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Demonstration of geothermal energy – burning gorse cuttings at Islote de Hilario.

Entrance to the National Park. Signpost designed by Cesar Manrique.

Opening into a volcanic tube.Flower (Pelargonium capitatum) growing in volcanic ash.

Lava field.

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risks from possible future eruptions. In 1993,the first gravimeter, for measuring gravity vari-ations was installed. Other instruments wereadded to study seismic events, land deformationand changes in the tilt of the land.

An important project, funded by the Euro-pean Union as part of investigations into along-term energy strategy, has involved a studyof the geothermal fields to measure the rate ofheat transfer from the underlying rocks to thesurface.

A meteorological station holds completeweather data on the sub-Saharan climate ofLanzarote going back to 1990.

In the Mancha Blanca Visitors’ Centre is asmall library, which contains reference books,both of a popular and scientific nature, as wellas many research papers concerning the vol-

canology, ecology, botany and zoology ofTimanfaya.

The lack of human activity in this new land-scape, together with its warm, dry climate,make Timanfaya ideal for the study, not only ofvolcanic phenomena, but of the naturalprocesses of biological colonisation.

A recent research project by scientists fromOxford University compared the breakdown oflava by lichens with the physical weatheringcaused by wind and rain. The work is importantbecause these processes bring about the firststage in the creation of soil from igneous mate-rial. The soils thus formed will, in a few morecenturies, be necessary for the colonisation ofthe land by higher plants.

These particular investigations are also ofsignificance as they can be compared with sim-

ilar research carried out in the much wetter, butotherwise analogous environment of Hawaii.

The dominant plant forms on the lava fieldsare the lichens; 71 species have been cata-logued, but the full population has beenestimated at around 200. The aridity has led toonly slow invasion by higher plants. Those thatdo survive here depend on dew and on watervapour rising through cracks from the hot rocks.These plants have evolved specialised root sys-tems as well as hairy and globular leaves toconserve water.

There are 120 species of invertebrate, but theonly terrestrial vertebrate animals are theHaria’s lizard, the gecko, the Canary shrew, therabbit and the hedgehog. 17 species of birdsnest in the Park. These include Bulwer’s petrel,

Cory’s shearwater, Leach’s petrel and the Bar-bary partridge. Kestrel and peregrine falcon arealso found here as well as a few pairs of Egypt-ian vulture.

The inevitable increase, over the comingyears, in the tourism on which Lanzarotedepends for its prosperity, will put severe pres-sures on Timanfaya National Park. The presentsystem of management appears to be workingwell. Not only does it allow the tourist to enjoythe spectacle of a landform that is unique inEurope, but it preserves that landform in itspristine purity.

M.A. Toole, 65, Cheswick Drive, Gosforth,Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 5DW, U.K.


Dromedary rides on the lower slopes of Timanfaya mountain.

Cacti growing on the Timanfaya lava field.Phot

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By DaphnePochin Mould

IT is probable that all thatmost Irish people know of theFaroe Islands is that they senta football team to play Irelandlast summer (Faroes lost) andthat the Irish played the returnmatch on the islands at thebeginning of June (Irelandwon again). We do not holidayin the Faroes and so miss outon one of the world’s mostlovely island clusters.

Look at the map of theNorth Atlantic. There is Ire-land, with its own littlenecklace of offshore islets.North, off Scotland’s westcoast, the Hebrides and thestormy Minch. North of Scot-land the Orkney island andbeyond them, the Shetlands.Go another 300 km (186miles) further on and youarrive at the 18 Faroe Islands(all inhabited bar one).

Iceland is some 430 km(266 miles) further, biggerthan Ireland, high tech, adven-turous, splitting the watermolecule to get hydrogen torun hydrogen powered busesas part of Reykjavik’s publictransport. But Iceland andFaroes share a common his-tory: both were visited byCeltic monks who fled whenNorse explorers appeared andbegan to settle. Icelanders jokethat the Faroese were the oneswho got sea sick en route andjumped ship!

The monks, or people withthem, brought sheep to theislands and it is sometimesclaimed that Faroe means theSheep islands. The Danishword for sheep is “faar”, butthe Faroes called them “sey-dur” (Icelandic “saudfe”).

Therefore one scholar thinksthe name may be Gaelic, “fearan”, far islands. Whatever thename came from, the sheepundoubtedly ate all theislands’ original, much densercover of plants and scrub, asthey have still been doing inIreland.

Every one of the 18 islandsthat make up the Faroe group,has its own special characterand beauty. There is a markednorth/south variation, thesouthern islands are lower andgreener, the northern oneshigher, rockier and with themightiest sea cliffs in allEurope. Getting around meanscrossing water, though easiertoday with good roads, tunnelscut through ridges and car fer-

ries. You can take your car toFaroes (Aberdeen to Lerwick,join Smyril Line’s big car ferryship there, which then goes onto Torshavn in Faroes and Sey-disfjordur in east Iceland).Faroes have their own airlineand an airfield on Vagar, butagain nothing direct from Ire-land.

It is a foggy part of theNorth Atlantic. Faroes jokeabout “Faroese sunshine” –mist, and that you can experi-ence their entire climate in thechanges of a single day. Butwhen the sun shines, this is aworld of the intense vividcolours of the North; asparkling world of sea androck, and grass as green as Ire-land’s. Mirages occur in these

parts; I have seen them in theHebrides, and an Icelandicseaman friend tells me he sawa mirage of the Faroes from ahundred miles away, in sharpdetail, even to the communica-tion masts on the hilltops.

Torshavn (Thor’s harbour)claims to be the smallest capitalcity in the world. Faroes gothome rule – at long last – in1948, under the Danish crown.All but one little village is onthe coast, for this is a nation offishermen and small-scalefarming. They have sailed anddo sail far over the northernseas and pay the price; “not oneman’s grave on land” one Faroewoman told me of her extendedfamily. You will find memorialcrosses with slabs set roundthem, each engraved with theship’s name and its lost crew.Model ships hang in the(Lutheran) churches. Moneywas scarce in Faroes so whenBritish fishermen began toreplace their sailing smackswith engine powered vessels,the islanders bought the oldsmacks and went on usingthem. Many of these lived onand on, and were given engines.And Faroes, like Iceland, haskept careful records of theseships, their owners and historyand published them. So I cantell you that “Gamla Pride”(Old Pride – there is a new one)which I saw still around in1965, was built in Brixham(England) in 1898.

Presently there are some47,000 Faroese people, bilin-gual in Faroese and Danish,and good at English. Withregard to language they dif-fered somewhat from theirIcelandic neighbours. Icelandbecame a nation of writers andreaders, of makers of poetry,history, stories, the writtenword keeping the old Norselanguage alive, so that modernIcelanders talking into theirmobile phones would verynearly be understood by thefirst Viking longships to comeexploring our shores. Faroese,however, starting from thesame roots, was never writtendown and its complex gram-mar teased out until the lasthundred years or so! It shouldhave been swamped by theDanish of its long time rulersbut these few people on theirremote islands kept it alive bydancing round in a ring!

The ring dance ends everycelebration. A singer standscentral, knowing the long andancient ballads by heart, andeveryone else forms a ringround him, joining in therefrain, part acting out thestory. You can join or leave thecircle as you wish. And the old

language lives on, now also inwritten form.

Faroes claim 250 species ofbirds, of which 70 nest there.Birds crowd the great cliffs andwere a vital food source in theold days. They are still takenand enjoyed – it was onMykines, the westmost island,that I first enjoyed the dark,tasty meat of the puffin, servedwith boiled potatoes, jelly andimported potato crisps. Pilotwhales could be driven ashorein certain little bays – lookoutson the headlands spotting themand alerting all boats withinreach to go out and herd themin. Everyone taking part, in boator on shore, gets a share of themeat. Fish were dried on specialshore side pavements; beef isstill hung in special slate housesto dry to rock hard blocks, andthen thinly sliced to eat:uncooked and very good.

Football, brassbands, regat-tas and the ring dance are allpart of the enthusiasms of thisancient island people, nowenjoying independence and thenew life of the 21st century.Well worth the effort of gettingthere from our own island.

FAROE: The Unknown Islands

Faroe mountains built of Tertiary period lavas – the same that gave us the Giants Causeway and Scotland,Fingal’s cave.

Faroese cow, with modern house and beyond the church with itstraditional grass roof.

A procession for the start of afestival.

The price of fish: Memorial to lost crews. Each slab records a boatand crew.

The mail boat unloading at Skuyov. This 1965 shot was taken as theywere installing a power winch, for even for the few hours for postaldelivery etc.., the boat had to be hauled ashore. But homes had a highstandard of living and electricity.

The old way of taking wool (sometimes called “Faroese gold” – was towait till the natural moult and then pluck it off, as being done here.Sheep come in white, brown and black colours.

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Living Beyond Our MeansThe world is living so far beyond its

ecological means that attempts to reducepoverty are likely to be compromised,scientists say. The Millennium EcosystemAssessment, compi led by 1 ,300researchers from 95 countries over fouryears, says human activities nowthreaten the Earth’s ability to sustainfuture generations. The report says thedamage we are doing to the environmentmeans efforts to halve poverty by 2015,as spelt out in the Millennium Develop-ment Goals agreed by world leaders fiveyears ago, are in question. The assess-ment says an unsustainable rush fornatural resources was triggered by therequirements of a growing world popula-tion after the second world war. Moreland has been converted to agriculturesince 1945 than in the eighteenth andnineteenth centuries combined. Morethan half of all the synthetic nitrogenfertilisers ever used have been spread onfarmland since 1985. The result of thispressure for resources, the scientistssay, is a substantial and largely irre-versible loss of the diversity of life onEarth. They estimate 90% of the totalweight of the ocean’s large predators hasvanished in the last few years, with 12%of all birds, 25% of mammals and morethan 30% of all amphibians thought torisk extinction by 2100.

Depletion of Fish StocksOne illustration of the extent of the

losses Nature is sustaining comes fromresearchers compiling the Census ofMarine Life. They say a conservativeestimate is that cod on the Scotian Bankoff the east coast of North Americahave declined by 96% since the 1850s,from 1.26 million metric tons in 1852 toless than 50,000 metric tons today.They say just 16 small schooners of thepre-Civil War era could hold all adult codcurrently estimated to be on the once-rich shelf. The researchers used NewEngland schooner records of daily catchlocations and fleet activity on the fish-ing grounds, which they say provide asolid, reliable basis for stock assess-ment. Other researchers using entirelydifferent types of data and methodsrecently showed similar levels of deple-tion for North Sea fish stocks.

Long-lining in theGalapagos Archipelago

In the Galapagos archipelago, 600miles off the coast of Ecuador, thereare plans to introduce one of the mostdestructive fishing methods, long-lining.Globally this is blamed for the loss ofabout 300,000 seabirds a year, including

many albatrosses. It’s not only birdswhich are threatened: sea lions, dol-phins, turtles and sharks may all fallvictim to the hooks, according to theGalapagos Conservation Trust. It is anice irony, and one that is probably loston the plan’s supporters, that the Gala-pagos are forever linked with the nameof Charles Darwin. But with the islands’population up from fewer than 2,000people in 1960 to nearly 27,000 today,the pressure for long-lining to start mayprove irresistible.

The Cooling of the Gulf StreamAnd there could be worse to come. A

US scientist writing in the journal Naturesays that if the Gulf Stream (which keepsnorth-west Europe warmer than it couldreasonably expect to be were to switchoff), this could mean a collapse of theNorth Atlantic plankton stocks to lessthan half their initial biomass. And thatcould have what he called “catastrophic”effects on fisheries and human food sup-ply. The Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change said in 2001 the GulfStream (properly known as the Atlanticthermohaline circulation) would weakenthis century, but not stop. But anotherUS researcher has put the chances of aswitch-off by 2100 at 45%. The UK MetOffice says the amount of fresh waterentering the Arctic Ocean from its tribu-tary rivers is increasing, and appears tobe about 20% of the amount needed forthe circulation to shut down.

Rabies Fear in Europe’s FoxesSome of the news on terra firma isn’t

much more encouraging. Europe’s foxpopulation has grown as much as eight-fold in the past decade, and this hasraised fears that rabies could easily getout of control. There’s concern the dis-ease is once again threatening westernEurope, and emergency teams have beenbusy in four German states and neigh-bouring parts of France, trying tovaccinate enough foxes to stop rabiesspreading. The reason for the flare-upappears to be patchy vaccination of wildfoxes in the German state of Hesse.Officials at Germany’s national rabieslaboratory have said they will stamp outthe infection this year. But their coun-terparts in France, Switzerland andBelgium are concerned that large areasof Europe where rabies had been eradi-cated could be reinfected.

Whale & Dolphin StrandingsAlthough size obviously matters, it

probably won’t help you that much in thewaters round the UK. The Natural His-tory Museum in London says the number

of whale, dolphin and porpoise strandingsin the UK has more than doubled in thepast decade. It found that strandingshad risen from 360 in 1994 to 782 in2004. The biggest increase has been inthe past five years, the NHM says. Itattributes the increase to winterstrandings of short-beaked common dol-phins and harbour porpoises insouth-west England. It says the figuresare misleadingly conservative, as manydead cetaceans sink out at sea. The rea-sons for strandings include sickness,disorientation, natural mortality,extreme weather, or injury. One sug-gested cause of death is the accidentalcatching of animals in fishing nets, whichhas prompted efforts to ban pair trawl-ing, where a large net is strung betweentrawlers, in British waters.

Population Increase ofWorld’s Rarest Birds

And from New Zealand comes newsthat the numbers of one of the world’srarest birds, the kakapo, have justincreased, with the successful hatchingof three chicks. The population of

kakapo – fat, green, musty-smelling noc-turnal parrots, which cannot fly butwhich can climb trees – now stands at 86.Spring has well and truly sprung.

The World’s MostEndangered Feline

But it’s not all doom and gloom. TheIberian lynx, described as the world’smost endangered feline, is said to havethe dubious distinction of being likely tobe the first big cat to follow the sabre-toothed tiger into extinction. Lynxnumbers have declined from 100,000 acentury ago to around just 100–120 inthe wild today. In captivity there arereported to be only 13 animals. But thegood news is that one of them hasrecently produced three cubs, raisinghopes that oblivion may be kept at bay.Dam building, road deaths, hunting and adecline in wild rabbits are believed tohave led to the lynx’s downfall.

Alex Kirby is a former BBCenvironment correspondent, nowwriting and broadcasting onenvironment and development.

A Spotlight on World Environmental Mattersby Alex Kirby

..................................................................................................................................................................Sherkin Comment 2005 – Issue No. 39

“Litter pollution degrades theIrish environment, spoiling theappearance of otherwise attrac-tive areas. It imposes unnecessaryclean-up and other costs on pub-lic and private bodies, whichcould be devoted to more produc-tive purposes; it damagesparticular sectors of the Irisheconomy, including the touristindustry. In social terms, littercan be a symptom of deeper socialproblems confronting an areaand its people; it can also accen-tuate these problems through thecareless attitude it fosters. Litterpollution can be dangerous tohuman health through, for exam-ple, broken bottles and cans leftstrewn across play areas. Finally,litter presents the wrong image ofIreland and the Irish and is a seri-ous embarrassment at a timewhen we have a lot to be proud ofas a nation.”

Extract from National Anti-Litter Forum Report, July 2000

This page outlines the variousprogrammes of anti-litter actionand initiatives already underwayand in planning by local author-ities (town, city and countycouncils), national governmentand others. It also providesinformation you need to staywithin the litter laws andexplains how you can getinvolved in helping combat ournational litter pollution problem.

Double Standards whenit comes to Litter

A national survey on the envi-ronment, “Attitudes and Actions”,published in April 2000, showsthat Irish people have double stan-dards when it comes to litter. Overone third of Irish people sponta-neously reply that rubbish on thestreets is their top national envi-ronmental concern, yet almost halfof us admit to having littered! Fur-thermore, around seven in tenpeople are fairly or extremely con-cerned with litter, graffiti and theappearance of their localities. Yet asimilar proportion of the popula-tion have never joined with localgroups to help clean-up! There issome good news, however, – thesurvey also shows that over six inten people said they would like todo more to help the environment,demonstrating a positive publicwill to clean up our act.

Don’t Litter and Don’tTolerate Those Who Do

Further information can befound on the campaign websitewww.10steps.ie

What litter costs the public purse Local authorities spend about

€60 million annually on their streetcleansing and litter warden opera-tions. Dublin City Council alonespent over €20 million in 2002 onthese services.

If there was less litter and dirt todeal with, local authorities wouldhave more money to spend onother public services in their areas.

Litter Law Enforcementby Local Authorities

The Litter Pollution Act, 1997gives local authorities a wide rangeof powers to tackle litter moreeffectively and requires a morestructured approach to litter man-agement planning.

Make no mistake, local authori-ties are catching up with litter louts.

Since the introduction of the Lit-ter Pollution Act to end 2001, therehas been a significant improvementin local authority enforcementaction generally.

Education & Awareness Actionby Local Authorities

In addition to stepping upenforcement of the litter laws,local authorities are now morecommitted than ever to litter pre-vention through education andraising public awareness. Localauthorities nation-wide are work-ing with Tidy Town groups,National Spring Clean and theGreen Schools programme, aEuropean award scheme whichacknowledges schools action onlitter and waste. A number of inno-vative strategies have also beenadopted, including:

• Local authority/local commu-nity anti-litter partnershipsinvolving local area plans.

• County wide Anti-LitterLeague challenges.

• Litter Road signs.• School theatre programmes.• Freephone services to allow the

public report instances of ille-gal dumping.

Further details of local authority“best practices” against litter areavailable on www.litter.ie.

GovernmentAnti-Litter Action

Although there is a lot of anti-lit-ter action underway, still moreneeds to be done! A Governmentprogramme to support more effec-tive local authority action againstlitter is being pursued. Since 1997,grants totalling €3 million havebeen allocated to local authoritiesfor local anti-litter initiatives; the2002 provision was €635,000.Local authorities also use annualLocal Government Fund moneyand other resources to intensifyaction against litter.

Your BUSINESS may suffer asYOU are breaking the law when …• You create litter in the carrying

on of a business, trade, or activ-ity or in loading, transportingor handling anything.

• You present your commercial/business waste for collection ina manner that creates litter

• Your premises occupy landalong a public road, in a speedlimit area, and you fail to keepfootpaths, pavements or grassverges along the road in frontof your property free of litter.

• You own or drive a vehicleused to transport goods ormaterials or you own or hire

skips and you fail to take meas-ures to prevent litter

• You place unauthorised articlesor advertisements on anddeface any structure or otherland, door, gate, window, tree,pole or post visible from a pub-lic place.

• You operate a mobile outlet andyou don’t provide litter bins ordon’t clear up litter resultingfrom your activities.

• You put advertising leaflets onthe windscreens of vehicles ordistribute material in a publicplace contrary to a local author-ity bye-law.

Get your free copy of the, “Lit-ter and the Law” leaflet availablefrom the websitewww.environ.ie/press/litter.html,your local public library, counciloffice or from Enfo.

What you can do to helpput an end to litter …

Litter does not simply happen –it is caused.

• Think tidyMake a habit of thinking tidy

from now on and you take the firststep towards lessening litter.

• Pick upA little effort can make a lot of

difference to the appearance ofyour home, your school, yourworkplace and their surroundings.It only takes a moment to pick up apiece of litter and put it in the bin.

• Take homeThe only proper place for refuse

is in the bin. But if you are out andabout and no bin is available, takeit home for disposal.

• Speak outIt is your environment that is

being damaged so you are entitledto speak out. If you see someonedropping litter, comment politelybut firmly. If you come across ille-gal dumping then report it to yourlocal authority.

• Get involvedIf there is a tidy town competi-

tion, National Spring Clean eventor anti-litter campaign in your area– support it! If there is none, per-haps you can get one going withyour neighbours or communityassociation.

It’s easy to make a difference

For further information: Contactyour local authority litter control sec-tion for information on what ishappening in your area.Anti-Litter Unit, Department of theEnvironment and Local Govern-ment, Custom House, Custom HouseQuay, Dublin 1. Tel:01 888 2060/L Call 1890 200 021 Fax:01 8882691 Website:www.environ.ieENFO Information on the Environ-ment, 17 St Andrew St, Dublin 2.Tel:01 888 2001/LoCall 1890 200191. Fax:01 888 3946Email:info@enfo .ie Website:www.enfo .ieIssued by: ENFO – The Environ-mental Information Service, 17St.Andrew Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.Tel:1890 200191 Fax:(01)8882946 e-mail:[email protected]

LLiitttteerr AAccttiioonn&& LLooccaall IImmaaggee

Sherkin Comment 2005 – Issue No. 39 ..................................................................................................................................................................

By Jason WhooleyTHERE is no doubt that the fishing industry

in Ireland is going through one of it’s most dif-ficult periods ever. Everyone involved in thesector feels isolated and frustration is the mostcommon sentiment around the coast. Fisher-men’s representatives are running from oneproblem to the next. This fire brigade manage-ment is characteristic of our fishing industrywith short-term problems dictating work sched-ules and agendas. We are failing to address thetrends that are developing in our sector and arenot differentiating between the immediate andthe more important long-term problems. Ourshort-term focus is hindering the industry’slong-term development.

To put this industry on a solid footing, weneed, over a period of 6 to 12 months, todevelop a long-term plan. It must be driven bythe fishing sector with total political involve-ment and support. The hard issues facing thesector will have to be discussed and difficultdecisions will have to be taken. If we take onthat task however, we can secure a viable future.

A discussion on the long-term future of theindustry needs to be wide ranging. Every aspectof our industry from the “net to the fork” mustbe critically examined. One of the key areas thatneeds to be covered is resource management.This in itself is a huge subject but one that Ire-land inc. has failed to tackle. It is true that manyof our resource issues are driven by the EU andare largely outside our control. Fishing hasbecome overshadowed by EU rules and regula-

tions, some of them nonsensical. We, as a coun-try, have been too eager to implement many ofthese regulations, often to the detriment of ourindustry only. Unfortunately, whether we like itor not, Brussels is here to stay and so is theCommon Fisheries Policy (CFP). With theadvent of Regional Advisory Councils (RAC),we will have an opportunity to address some ofthe problems with the CFP. The RAC’s in myview represent the best chance for the industryacross Europe to introduce a degree of realisminto the CFP.

Leaving aside the EU element, the questionmust be asked, are we fully utilising ourresources/quotas? I don’t think we are. Our sys-tem of quota management needs to be reviewed.Without some degree of management by theproducers it is difficult to achieve the kind ofmarket led fishing patterns that will deliver thebest return on our resource.

As part of a discussion on resource manage-ment, we need to look at alternatives to ourpresent quota management system. Everythingshould be on the agenda including IndividualTransferable Quotas (ITQ’s). There is no doubtthat ITQ’s are controversial but they could playa role in our future. We may find that the currentsystem is the most favourable but it may not be.Without this discussion we will continue withthe current uncertain situation regarding trackrecords and participation in already pressurisedfisheries. Right now, if a fishery becomes prof-itable, it attracts more and moreeffort/participation. This is detrimental from astock point of view but also from a marketingperspective where additional supply nearly

always decreases returns. The hake fishery ofthe early nineties is a classic example of thegold rush mentality. Our future direction shouldaddress this situation, should we have morerestricted access to fisheries? Should vessels beconfined to certain categories? The ability todrift from one fishery to another can make shortterm economic sense but does it lend itself tolong term planning and management?

The rising costs of operating a fishing vesselcombined with quota restrictions and poor

prices for fish has seen an increase in the num-ber of boats going out of business.

My view is simple; decommissioning has toform part of our future. There are many fisher-men who would like to get out of fishing and thiswill give them an option. For those who are left,there should be larger quotas for distribution.

FIFG funding is an area where we have a cer-tain amount of national discretion in how andwhere it’s spent. We need to discuss how weprioritise this spending in relation to a long-term strategy. Recently, new vessel buildingshave absorbed a large amount of this budget andrightly so. In the future, with the moratorium atEU level on the grant aid of new vessels, otherareas need to be examined. A priority fundingarea needs to be decommissioning. Any suchscheme needs to be focussed on fleet sectors,stocks that are being targeted excessivelyshould see fleets reduced.

What you’ve read above is one man’s view,there are many other views out there, we need tohear them. At present, our industry is not havingthese discussions, we are too busy fire fighting.As an industry, we need to look to the future, weneed to develop strategies that will enable us todeal with the challenges we will undoubtedlyface in the long term. If we don’t undertake thistask soon at a national level, we will be doingthe industry we represent a serious dis-service.

Jason Whooley, Manager, Irish South & WestFish Producers’ Organisation Ltd, The Pier,Castletownbere, Co. Cork. www.irishsouthandwest.ie

THE FISHING INDUSTRY MUST CHANGE

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By PatriciaO’Connor

WATER for power genera-tion has been used in Irelandsince the early 18th Century,initially through the mechani-cal use of waterwheels to turnmillstones and drive shafts.These were replaced by tur-bines producing electricity andwere then used in some in-stances for the generation ofelectricity for domestic sup-ply; e.g. Ashgrove Mills on theSheen River in County Kerrysupplied electricity to Ken-mare Town.

Traditionally hydroelectricschemes were located in low-land areas, abstracting waterfrom rivers through the use ofweirs with diversion of riverflow to a millrace or millpondand from there to the turbinehouse, sometimes located adistance downstream withwater returned to the riverbelow the turbine housethrough a tailrace.

More recently, a number ofthese schemes have been rede-veloped with the introductionof modern more efficient tur-bines with higher generatingcapacities. The utilisation ofmodern technology has alsoopened the way for the gener-ation of energy from high headsites in upland mountain areas,with pipelines servicing tur-bines extended distancesdownstream.

The generation of electricityfrom hydro power is also sup-ported by various EU fundedschemes such as the ValorenProgramme and more recentlyAlternative Energy Resources(AER) and ALTENERschemes. This funding hasmade hydro-generation moreattractive to developers andwith the advances in turbineand pipeline technology has

made small high head schemesmore lucrative.

In principle, the Central andRegional Fisheries Boardssupports the generation of en-ergy from renewable resourcesas an aid to the reduction infossil fuel usage and carbonemissions. However, hydrodevelopments have the poten-tial to significantly impact onthe fishery resource and it isessential that such schemes arepermitted only where it can bedemonstrated that the fisherycan be protected, i.e. withoutinterference to fish movement,habitat, flora and fauna andwater quality.

In the South West of Irelandthere are several differingtypes and size of hydroschemes operating in lowlandmain channel and uplandheadwater rivers. The follow-ing lists some of these and de-scribes environmental issuesassociated with these opera-tions. This paper identifiessome issues to be addressed ina more comprehensive assess-ment of impacts and mitiga-tion which will assistdevelopers and help to insurefuture hydro scheme develop-ments have minimal interfer-ence on fisheries.

Hydroelectric schemes onlowland main river channelsinclude the impoundment ofthe Lee River at Carrigadrohidand Inniscarra by the Electric-ity Supply Board to generateelectricity, the operation ofturbines at the Cork City Wa-terworks originally as a waterpumping station and more re-cently for electricity genera-tion, the restoration of the oldmill sites such as those on theBandon River in Bandon, theSheen River at AshgroveMills, Kenmare and BaelickMill near Macroom now aHeritage site. There are alsomany disused corn, woollenand shovel mills throughout

the region with potential fordevelopment.

In upland sites, high headschemes either utilise waterdrawn directly from the riverwith “run of river” intakes orthrough abstraction from lakesmodified to create additionalstorage or from man-made im-poundments. Additional flowhas also been provided bytransferring water from onesystem to another.

Potential for hydro devel-opments to impact on fish-eries is generally determinedby their scale, nature and lo-cation within a river systemand on the nature of the fish-ery present. For example;schemes on lowland mainriver channels have the po-tential to totally or partiallyobstruct movement of migra-tory fish, interfere with fish-ing and fish spawning andnursery areas, affect waterquality; create poaching ven-ues by holding and congrega-tion of salmon below returnpoints and cause physicaldamage and mortalities infish. Equally, schemes at highhead locations can interferewith aquatic fauna and flora,salmonid spawning and nurs-ery areas, angling, waterquality, and obstruct move-ment of fish stocks. Addi-tional impacts can occur ifhigh head schemes includeimpoundments.

Such impacts can have seri-ous consequences for the re-spective fisheries and the

Fisheries Board’s must assessthese implications togetherwith mitigation proposals atthe scoping and planningstages of any proposed devel-opment. Up to now guidelineswere unavailable to provideinformation to prospective de-velopers or planners on fish-eries requirements. Guidelinesare currently being preparedby the Fisheries Boards in con-junction with the EngineeringDivision of the Department ofCommunications, Marine andNatural Resources to addressissues including the following.

• Are there locations withincatchments which are ac-ceptable for the develop-ment of hydro schemes?For example: above ex-tremes of spawning limits,above impassable falls, onrivers which have nosalmonid migration due tomanmade impasses, onrivers where flow availabil-ity significantly exceedsgeneration capacity.

• Are there unacceptable lo-cations where developmentshould not be permitted?For example: those withpotential impacts onspawning, nursery areasand aquatic habitat, wheresustained low flows areproposed, on spring salmonfisheries, on exceptionalangling waters. Where thecreation of a lake Impound-ment is proposed

The answer to some of theabove questions are relatively

straightforward however thereis also a dearth of knowledgeon the impact of some aspectsof hydroelectric schemes onfisheries and further consider-ation must be given to issuessuch as the quantification ofcompensation flows requiredto maintain aquatic habitatsand wetted perimeter, the im-pacts of extended sustainedlow flows on aquatic habitats.The water flow required satis-fying effective fish passage; isit acceptable to have fishmovement curtailed becauseof reduced flows caused bygeneration? What specificflow regimes are acceptable toprovide for protection ofspawning and juvenile fish?Will periodic cessation of ab-straction facilitate spawningescapement, etc.?

In addition other aspectsmust also be addressed. Isthere a requirement to amendFisheries Legislation to im-prove protection for fish-eries? Should cost/benefitanalyses include the costs ofenvironmental impact mitiga-tion and grant aid? Is there arequirement for the precau-tionary principal to beadopted where sufficient in-

formation is currently un-available on potential impactson fisheries, etc etc..?

The principles of sustain-able development require pro-tection of the natural resource,however the type and extent ofmitigation required for fish-eries protection can only bemade when there is sufficientinformation available onwhich to base an assessment.Questions raised above in-clude a range of issues to beaddressed when assessing po-tential impacts of hydroschemes on fisheries and thereare obviously many morequestions requiring answers.The preparation of guidelineswill be the first step in ad-dressing these informationalrequirements.

Note: A consultation documentprepared by the Fisheries Boards andEngineering Division of the Departmentof Communications, Marine and Nat-ural Resources will be available shortly

For further information con-tact Patricia O’Connor, Se-nior Fisheries EnvironmentalOfficer, South Western Re-gional Fisheries Board, Mac-room, Co. Cork, Ireland.

Fisheries & Hydroelectric SchemesA Fisheries Environmental Perspective

Restored Corn Mill, Macroom, Co. Cork.

Restored Mill Site.

Phot

os: ©

SW

RFB


By Alex KirbyEVERY TIME I come to a Sherkin confer-

ence I learn a lot. I remember at one conferencesomeone saying: “The environment is what wedo to where we live.” That’s relevant to us atthis conference on air pollution, because we alllive under the one sky, sharing the Earth’s oneatmosphere — and what we do to it may not bequickly undone. The other Sherkinism I think isespecially relevant was someone saying:“When it comes to throwing our rubbish away,we have to remember there’s no such place as‘away’.” The other side of that, of course, is thatthere’s no such person as The Other. Thestranger, the unknown, the alien is you and me.But that’s a road to follow another time.

There are some environmental problemswe’re pretty confident we’ve solved. Ozonedepletion is one: acid rain is probably another.And I guess a third problem most of us believewe’ve largely cracked is air pollution. Yet airpollution is a problem not just for the chroni-cally sick, but for all of us. Its cost is measuredin lives stunted, foreshortened and stopped deadin their tracks.

We know the nature of the problem haschanged over the past 40 years or so. The smokeand sulphur dioxide associated with the smogsof the past, which were such a feature of myLiverpool childhood, have declined. But pollu-tion from vehicles has increased, and isincreasing. Although engines are becomingmore efficient and fuels cleaner, the number ofvehicles is still growing faster. The Earth PolicyInstitute in Washington has calculated that ifChinese car ownership were to reach the USlevel of 0.77 cars per person, China would havea fleet of 1.1 billion cars in 2031— well beyondthe current world fleet of 795 million. If theChinese used oil at the same rate as Americansnow do, by 2031 they would need 99 millionbarrels of oil a day. The world currently pro-duces 79 million barrels a day.

We know the individual pollutants which areto blame. The key ones are particulates, fromroad vehicles, especially diesels; nitrogen diox-ide; low-level ozone; sulphur dioxide; volatileorganic compounds like benzene; carbonmonoxide; lead; and toxic organic micro-pollu-tants (TOMPS): polycyclic aromatichydrocarbons, PCBs — polychlorinatedbiphenyls — dioxins and furans. Large amountsof dioxins are released on and around bonfirenight. In my home town, Lewes in Sussex, youwouldn’t want to know what happens onNovember the fifth. Yet there’s massive protestat the prospect of an incinerator five mile away.If we really are worried about dioxins, we mightdo away with bonfire night. Tobacco smoke isalso a source of TOMPS.

Air pollution causes not only short term ill-effects, but long-term damage and evenpremature death. For example, brief exposure tohigh levels of nitrogen dioxide can cause imme-diate temporary discomfort, while repeatedexposure to asbestos or lead can lead to chronicillness, because their effects are cumulative.

For people with problems already — bron-chitis, perhaps, asthma or heart disease — or thevery young or old, air pollution can be signifi-cant. At very high levels, or over long periods oftime, it can also cause some conditions whichdid not exist before.

And it is a serious killer. UK governmentresearchers have found that acute effects maycause from 24,000 to 32,000 premature Britishdeaths every year. Many will be people who arealready very ill, but some at least are preventa-

ble. Experts think the impact of chronic expo-sure is many times worse. A EuropeanCommission study found all forms of air pollu-tion caused 310,000 premature deaths annuallyacross the EU. The least affected country wasFinland, with Ireland next — loss of lifeexpectancy here was 3.9 months, with 13.6months lost in worst-hit Belgium.

In April the World Health Organisation saidparticulates alone shorten the life of everyone inthe European Union by an average of 8.6months. Particulates irritate the eyes, nose andthroat. Larger ones, like PM10, are filtered outin the nose or throat, but the smallest ones thatreach deep into the lung may be absorbed intothe blood stream or cause lung problems. Parti-cles smaller than 2.5 micrometers(two-and-a-half-millionths of a meter across,known as PM2.5) come mainly from vehicles,and are the most dangerous. Today, with thedecline of coal burning, it is diesel vehicles thatare the main source of urban particulates, someof which are linked to cancer and poisoning.

Air pollution can even harm infants beforethey are born. Last year the WHO reviewed thelatest research on the effects of pollution onchildren’s health and development, and con-cluded that exposure to particulates in thewomb could lead to impaired lung growth. Sig-nificantly, the WHO says no-one has been ableto identify a threshold below which particulateshave no effect on health.

A number of cities are tackling the problemon an area basis, reducing or banning traffic incongested districts at peak hours or when theweather intensifies the pollution. This can bringtemporary relief to the hotspots, but often sim-ply shifts the problem somewhere else.

And one country’s emissions often cause itsneighbours problems too. Only 41% of thePM2.5 pollution in Germany is estimated to behome-produced. But German emissions repre-sent 21% of Denmark’s total and 20% of theCzech Republic’s. This operates over nationalfrontiers, and across oceans as well. Last yearan international experiment began to track andsample the polluted air crossing the Atlanticfrom the US to Europe. “There’s no such placeas ‘away’.”

Air pollution harms other forms of life. Sul-phur dioxide hinders photosynthesis, andnitrogen oxide stimulates plants on heathland,moors and blanket bogs to prolong their grow-ing phase. Some plants in habitats like thesedepend on soil poor in nutrients, so the pollu-tion can alter the composition of species foundthere, and of butterflies and other insects thatrely on them.

I haven’t mentioned one of the worst sorts ofair pollution — that which happens indoors,mainly because of smoky stoves and cookingfires. It’s not really a European problem. But asit’s estimated to kill more than one-and-a-half-million people a year in the developing world, itdoes help to put our own problems in perspec-tive.

If we do finally succeed in reducing air pollu-tion, we may ironically only intensify an even

greater threat — climate change. The pollutionso far has helped to protect us from the effects ofrising global temperatures, and to conceal or con-fuse the evidence that the world is warming. Ifthe air is cleaner, scientists say, then the effects ofthe warming will be increasingly plain.

Scientists have found that between the middleand the end of the twentieth century the amountof sunlight reaching the Earth declined by one ortwo per cent every decade. They suggest thisprocess of global dimming is caused as pollutionfrom burning fuel reflects sunlight back intospace and also makes clouds more reflectivethan normal, again reflecting the solar radiationaway from the Earth’s surface. So by shieldingthe oceans from the Sun’s full power, the pollu-tion may be disrupting the pattern of globalrainfall. Even more seriously, it may be exertinga cooling effect which has offset the warmingcaused by greenhouse gases and has misledexperts into thinking the climate was robustenough not to show much response to hugequantities of carbon dioxide. But without thecooling, climate sensitivity could be enough,some scientists believe, to allow global averagetemperatures by 2100 to be 10 degrees Celsiushigher — more than twice the difference in tem-perature between the last Ice Age and today.

So here are some of the questions we mayneed to ask about air pollution:

How far do we want to go to protect some ofthe most vulnerable members of society — theyoung, the old, the chronically sick, the unborn?

Is it in the interest of the wider society to givethem any special protection against the effectsof pollution, when this is likely to mean a finan-cial penalty for the rest of us?

The German city of Munster has imposed a30 kph speed limit on 85% of its streets. Thismeans it is much safer to cycle, and many peo-ple ride their bikes instead of using cars. Couldwe cut the damage air pollution does to healthby learning to move around more slowly, oreven to forgo some of our assumed right to beas mobile as we want?

Will governments start to give greater prior-ity to public than private transport? And if theydo, will we make use of it? How much do welove our own cars? I remember once hearing thethen British Environment Secretary, John Gum-mer, on the subject. Someone had arrived late ata press conference, and said they’d been caughtin the traffic. But Mr Gummer replied: “It’s nouse blaming the traffic. You are the traffic.”

What will we do to slow the onset of climatechange?

How far are we prepared to go to help peoplein the developing world to save their health andtheir lives by enabling them to find ways ofcooking that will not choke them?

By now, perhaps, some at least of you maybe feeling the need for a reviving smoke. Bevery careful. An Italian study found the smokefrom a single cigarette produces as much par-ticulate matter as running a diesel engine for ahundred minutes.

Alex Kirby is a former BBC environmentcorrespondent, now writing and broadcasting onenvironment and development. This article is ashorter version of a paper presented at the SherkinIsland Marine Station conference on “AirPollution”, held in Carrigaline in April 2005.

AIR POLLUTION: Asking the Questions

2005 International Blue Flag Beaches in County Cork

The Blue Flag Operators inIreland urge the public to helpretain Blue Flags at beaches bydoing some simple things whenvisiting the beach. On your nextbeach visit

- Use litterbins provided andrecycle where possible

- Proper disposal of your petswaste, nappies, glass andcans.

- Keep dogs on a leash- Join in beach activity

programmes egEnvironmental informationroadshow where provided.

- Organise your own beachclean/activity days or localimprovement schemes andlet your local authorityknow - We may be able tohelp!

- Obey beach safetyguidelines

- respect fragile dunesThe Blue flag award has benefitsto the local community, whereamenities and environment areenhanced and a shared respon-sibility for the beach and thelocal environment is promoted.These awards also have a posi-tive knock on effect for tourismin the County.

BE PROUD OFYOUR BEACH

CARE FOR IT

LEAVE YOURFOOTPRINTS

ON THE SANDAND NOT

YOUR WASTE.

For further information :➢ on issues of beach management and water quality contact the environment

section, cork county council 021– 4532700 www.corkcoco.ie or local area office.

➢ For information on Blue Flag Beaches contact: An Taisce Blue Flag Office,Tailors Hall, Back Lane, Dublin 8. tel 01– 7077068 www.blueflag.org

➢ On issues of information regarding special protection areas, naturalheritage areas contact Heritage unit, Cork County Council 021–4818006

➢ On issues of water safety contact www.iws.ie

The International Blue Flag campaign is a voluntary scheme co-ordinated in Irelandby An Taisce – The National Trust for Ireland, with support from the Department ofthe Environment, Heritage and Local Government and on behalf of the Foundationfor Environmental Education (FEE, www.fee-international.org). This international award ensures the following Beach Quality criteria:

- excellence in water quality and a commited monitoring programme- Provision of adequate safety and services, safety equipment and warning signals

of potential hazards.- Beach Management programme, Good Infrastructure, accessibility and litter control.- Provision of environmental information and education

This year Cork has been awarded 10 Blue Flag Beaches an increase of one from the2004 bathing season. These awards reflect the work carried out and the continuedcommitment by the Councils local area offices, Environment Department andVoluntary Community Groups. The International jury were very pleased with theefforts of Cork County Council and the Owenahincha local community groups whoworked in partnership to address their 2003 litter problems to regain their Blue Flagstatus for the 2005 bathing water season.

✧✧ Youghal FrontstrandClaycastle

✧✧ Shanagarry Garryvoe

✧✧ Old Head of Kinsale GarrylucasGarrettstown

✧✧ Clonakilty Inchydoney

✧✧ Roscarbery OwenahinchaWarren

✧✧ Skibbeereen Tragumna

✧✧ Mizen Head Barleycove


AT the publication of Bord Pleanála’sAnnual Report, 2003, on 25th November2004, the Chairperson of the Board, JohnO’Connor, strongly refuted accusations fromsome sources questioning the independence ofthe Board. He regretted that there was anincreasing tendency for some people, whenthey did not get the decision they wanted fromthe Board, to cast aspersions on the Board’sindependence. He said that it was necessary todeny this kind of allegation in the strongestpossible terms since, left unanswered, it coulddamage public confidence in the Board as wellas morale within the organisation.

The Board was set up in law as a completelyindependent arbiter of planning appeals andmajor local authority projects. It is obliged tooperate in a quasi-judicial manner. It is a legaloffence for anybody to attempt to improperlyinfluence the outcome of any case before theBoard. Systems and procedures, designed toprotect the decision making process fromexternal influence other than through theprocess are laid down by law. The member-ship of the Board is governed by detailedlegislation to ensure a proper balance of inter-ests. Members, staff and consultants engagedby the Board are all subject to a detailed codeof conduct and there are procedures to ensurethat any potential conflicts of interest areavoided. The Board’s procedures are very

open, the full file is available to the publicafter each decision is made and each decisionis accompanied by the reasons for the Board’sdecision and, where appropriate, the reasonfor not accepting the recommendation of theinspector in the case. The core principles ofindependence, impartiality and openness arefully respected by everyone in the Board.

The Chairperson said he wanted to state cat-egorically that in his experience there hasnever been any attempt to interfere with theindependent exercise by the Board of its dis-cretion. He fully respects the right of anyoneto disagree with a decision of the Board on themerits of the case but attempts to denigratedecisions by impugning the independence ofthe Board are an entirely different matter andare irresponsible.

Referring to the general performance of theBoard, he said that he was pleased that thedecision times on appeals and other cases con-tinue to improve despite the substantialincrease in the Board’s workload this year.The following facts give an indication of thecurrent state of affairs in the Board.• The intake of planning appeals and infra-

structure cases in 2004 is showing an in-crease of 12% over 2003 and is heading forover 5,300 cases.

• The improvement in the timeliness of deci-sion making recorded in 2003 has contin-

ued in 2004 to date with the percentage ofcases being decided within the 18 weekstatutory time objective increasing from74% in 2003 to 82% in 2004 to date. Theaverage time to dispose of cases has comedown from 16 to 14 weeks.

• Reflecting the increase in the intake ofcases, the number on hands at the end ofOctober 2004 was 1513.It is the Board’s overall strategic objective

to dispose of 90% of cases within the 18 weekperiod. This recognises the fact that there willalways be a certain element of cases that, forone reason or another, often outside theBoard’s control, it is not possible to decidewithin this time frame. However, the Board isconstantly striving to further improve thetimeliness of decisions by reviewing the rea-sons for delays and the efficiency ofoperations.

General TrendsThe following general trends in normal

planning appeals in 2003 may be of interest:• The percentage of local planning deci-

sions appealed continues to be fairly con-stant at 7%.

• The share of local decisions appealedwhich are reversed by the Board was 30%,down from 33% in 2002.

• First party appeals against refusal faredbetter in 2003 with 22% resulting in grantsof permission compared to 20% in 2002.

• Third party appeals against grants of per-mission were somewhat less successfulresulting in 41% refusals compared to45% in 2002.

Major ProjectsMajor infrastructure projects come before

the Board either by way of planning appealwhere they are privately sponsored or by wayof direct approval where they are local author-ity sponsored. The Board is keenly aware ofinfrastructure deficiencies and their impact onsocial and economic development. Recognis-ing the importance of avoiding delays at theplanning stage of these projects the Boardcontinues to improve systems of processingthese cases. For example, this year in 22 ofthe 26 local authority project cases oral hear-ings were commenced within six weeks of theexpiry date for objections. 14 major nationalroad schemes were approved by the Boardfrom the start of 2003 to date. At the presenttime there are only 4 national road casesawaiting determination by the Board and theoral hearings have been held in 3 of these.This year 90% of private infrastructure plan-ning appeals were reported on to the Boardwithin 17 weeks of the appeals being received.Priority is also accorded to housing schemesof 30 or more units and a special team ofInspectors is concentrating on these cases.Overall, the Board considers that it would bedifficult to improve significantly on presenttimescales within the parameters of existinglegislation. There is a strong tendency forinfrastructure cases (particularly in the wastearea) to be challenged by way of judicialreview after the Board’s decision.

Customer ServiceAs part of its ongoing programme to

improve service to customers and stakeholdersthe Board has adopted a detailed customerservice action plan which states clearly thelevel of service its customers can expect. Thisincludes an improved system for dealing withcomplaints from customers. The Board alsocontinues with its programme of meetingmajor stakeholder interests on a regular basisto ensure that it is aware of their concerns.

Design StandardsThe Chairperson referred to concerns he

expressed previously about the design stan-dards for many new developments across thecountry. He acknowledged that design stan-dards had improved over recent years,particularly in the larger urban areas, and paidtribute to the efforts being made by the archi-tects’ and planners’ professional bodies in thisregard. However, too many developmentscoming before the Board still exhibited poordesign standards. Lack of design quality atplanning stage can result in developments thatoffer a poor living environment to futureoccupants and the general acceptance of aes-thetic mediocrity. Where the Board considersdesign to be substandard it may refuse permis-sion or if the development is amenable tobeing redesigned within the parameters of theplanning application it may request the devel-oper to upgrade the design. The Chairpersonsaid that additional resources put into thedesign phase of a development will alwayspay dividends for the developer in terms of theamount and value of development that can beachieved, as well as facilitating planning per-mission.

Rural HousingAs requested by the Minister at the time of

their publication, the Board has regard to thedraft planning guidelines on Sustainable RuralHousing in deciding appeals in relation to one-off houses in rural areas. Generally, in linewith the guidelines, the Board takes a positiveattitude, subject of course to observation ofsite specific good planning principles, to ruralgenerated housing needs or housing for peoplewith genuine links to the local rural commu-nity. A survey of appeals relating to one-offrural housing developments decided since theguidelines were published shows that 47% ofthe 350 cases decided were located in areasunder strong urban influence, with only 17%being in weak rural areas. The survey alsoshows that drainage and settlement policiesare the most common reasons for refusal (27%each) with traffic hazard (18%) and landscape(17%) also prominent.

John O’Connor, Chairperson, An BordPleanála, 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1.Phone: (01)858 8100 or Lo-call 1890 275175 FAX (01) 872 2684 [email protected] www.pleanala.ie

Chairperson of An Bord Pleanála stronglydefends the Board’s independence

Cara Partners wish continuedsuccess to Matt and his team at

Sherkin Island Marine Station


By Paul KayWE all too often take our

cosy and generally safeworld for granted, and thisextends to all aspects of ourhighly organised and cos-seted lives. So it can be ashock when not everythinggoes according to plan.

In January of 2005 my wife,father-in-law and I were fortu-nate enough to be able to take atrip to the South Atlantic wherewe were to visit the Falklands,South Georgia and the Antarc-tic Peninsula. A trip of alifetime! And one accompaniedby members of the ScottishRoyal Geographical Societyand the Tom Crean Society.

The Falklands proved to bewindy, hilly and virtually tree-less but beautiful and withmuch wildlife. Although we

spent only a couple of daysthere and scuba dived once inthe amazing giant kelp foundaround the islands, the Falk-lands were a place that I wouldvery much like to revisit.

South Georgia on the otherhand was a complete contrast.Two days sailing to the east ofthe Falklands, the islandappeared before us as moun-tainous, desolate, cold butincredibly beautiful. The over-all impression, though, wasone of isolation.

If anything this sense of iso-lation was reinforced when westepped ashore. We manoeu-vred amongst icebergs in ourship (an icebreaker) into KingHaakon Bay on the south sideof the island and landed inCave Cove – the same spotwhere Shackleton made land-fall after his epic voyage in the“James Caird”. We were

greeted by fur seals (of whichwe had to be a little wary) andclimbed up through the deepand dense tussock grass to seealbatrosses on their nests.Later we used the Zodiacinflatables to run up to the topof the bay to see more sealsand some penguins. Thescenery was spectacular; gla-ciers (we saw Shackleton’sGap, mountains and rivers ofglacial melt water.

All too soon it was time to goback to our icebreaker. An amaz-ing day, to be followed by anunforgettable evening. The con-versation in the dining room wasbuzzing with what everyone hadseen, but was interrupted whenour vessel graunched noisily to asudden stop. As if we didn’talready know that somethingwas seriously wrong, the list thatthe ship now took on confirmedthis.

In fact we had struck a rockpinnacle and were stuck on it.Our situation was now worry-ing. The nearest habitationwas at Grytviken, on the northside of the island, where thereare no rescue facilities. Wewere aware of a Britishdestroyer within two days sailof us but beyond that knew ofno other vessels in the vicinity– South Georgia is isolated! Asthe island is below the Antarc-tic convergence, the watertemperature was no more than5 degrees Centigrade andwhilst the lifeboats were cov-ered, the nearest viablelandfall would have meantnegotiating icebergs and shal-low reefs in twilight or atnight. The potentiality of thesituation was far from good.

Our captain did the onlything he could. He managed tocorkscrew the vessel off therock using his engines in aseries of thrusts and coun-terthrusts. Fortunately, the shipwas a very toughly built ice-breaker with a double hull andit was this which probablysaved us. During the night wemotored around the island toGrytviken to find a salvage tug

with divers, working to raisethe two sealing ships sunk inthe whaling station harbour.

Our trip had effectivelyended when we hit that rock(which is now accuratelyshown on the Admiralty chart!)but we spent several days inGrytviken where the wildlifewas incredibly tame, and evena glorious day visiting StAndrew’s Bay where vast num-bers of penguins, together withfur and elephant seals allowedus to view and photographthem with no fear whatsoever.

It was possible to watchyoung fur seals plaguing thepenguins by nipping at themout of a devilish sense of fun(just like naughty children),adults balancing on chunks ofwashed up iceberg, and ele-phant seals cooling themselveswith scoops of damp sandthrown over their backs as itwas a sunny (although not hot)day. Sitting on the gravely

beach would often result in apenguin wandering up towithin a few feet, totallyunconcerned about the strangevisitor. Many penguins wereyoung and still had theirbrown covering. Others stoodin the icy waters of a milkyglacial melt river, fullyadapted to its cold.

This day was one we hadwhilst the ship underwentchecks, having had holes tem-porarily repaired by the hardywetsuited Chilean divers fromthe salvage tug. As we set sailaway from St Andrew’s Bayamidst an unprecedented num-ber of icebergs, we weretreated to a spectacular displayof low sun, snow cappedmountains and icebergs. Thisis perhaps my most enduringmemory of the trip.

But the voyage was over.We sailed straight back toUshuaia in Argentina for thevessel to be inspected (she was

finally extensively repaired inFalmouth) and spent a fewdays there. We managed todive in the Beagle Channel,which was remarkably likediving in a Scottish sea lochbut with slightly differentmarine life, before flyinghome.

The Antarctic Peninsula stillbeckons. If we ever get thechance to go again it will be inan icebreaker – nothing elsewill now do!

Paul Kay BSc FRPS is aprofessional photographer,specialising in marine wildlifephotography and the sale ofunderwater photographicequipment. Stock UnderwaterPhotographywww.marinewildlife.co.uk.Suppliers of Seacam SilverUnderwater Photo Equipmentwww.underseacameras.co. Tel. 0044 1248 681361 or0044 7702 411614.

A trip of a lifetimeto the South Atlantic

The Argentinian port of Ushuaia seen from the east along the Beagle Channel. Many Antarctic bound vesselsleave from Ushuaia, the most southern town in Argentina.

An elephant seal enjoying the sun at St Andrews Bay.

Phot

os: ©

Pau

l Kay

Sherkin Comment 2005 – Issue No. 39 ..................................................................................................................................................................Page 17 ..................................................................................................................................................................Sherkin Comment 2005 – Issue No. 39

A Falkland curra-curra – mischievous eyes do not lie, they are thieves and will stealmost things that they can carry including hats!

The sun is lovely but hot and cooling down means a shower of damp sand flicked overyour back with an handy kick.

An unprecedented number of icebergs floated off the north coast of South Georgia. Fur seals on the beach at the top of King Haakon Bay, made famousas Shackleton's landing place after his epic sail.

Fur seals apparently like a challenge. It took ages for this one to climb onto a precariously balancingiceberg remnant which had washed up. Once achieved the aim was boring and after a few secondsof triumphant balancing the seal hopped down and away.

St Andrews Bay – penguins and sea – for all the world as if they are on a family outing!

Up to half a million penguins can be seen in St Andrews Bay.

Standing as if on sentry duty – two juvenile penguins lean against each other as they stand in steaming, smelly water.

An albatross chick in the Falklands.

A trip of a lifetime tothe South AtlanticPhotographs by Paul Kay(see article on previous page)

.................................................................................................................................................................Sherkin Comment 2005 – Issue No. 39

THE Geological Survey of Ireland is one ofthe most important state bodies in the field ofresearch. I put questions to the Director ofthe GSI, Dr Peadar McArdle, so that readerswould get an understanding of some of thework carried out by him and his staff.

Matt Murphy: Can you describe what theGSI does?

Peadar McArdle: The GSI mission, statedcoldly, is to provide geological advice andinformation relating to Ireland in support ofnational and local objectives. Our bedrock andits overlying subsoil define our physical envi-ronment – they control where we live and workand spend our leisure time. During our conver-sation we will look at some examples of theinfluence of geology on our lives and the waysin which GSI adds value to the quality andsafety of our communities.

Matt Murphy: What staff do you have?Peadar McArdle: Currently we have less

than 90 staff and this is remarkably lean whenyou consider the range of tasks we carry out.Our geological staff work for a wide range ofsectors, including groundwater protection, min-ing and quarrying, construction and transportroutes, hydrocarbons, fisheries, navigationalsafety, heritage and education. So we have quitea range of geological, geographical and scien-tific skills. We also have informationmanagement skills, which are key to our mis-sion. We are also fortunate in that we havesuperb support services – administration, forexample, runs our one-stop Customer Centre,Technical Service manages drilling services andCartography the production of our publications.

Matt Murphy: How do you help the ordi-nary person?

Peadar McArdle: Your question implies thatmuch of our work is geared towards organisa-tions rather than individuals – and that iscorrect. However we have considerable contactwith ordinary members of the public. Wereceive over 4,000 queries each year by phone,fax, mail or personal callers. These may be frompersons wishing, for example, to sink a water-well on their property, or seeking additionalinformation on the underground of their locality– perhaps with construction in mind. We realisethat sometimes people find it difficult to reachthe right information within GSI and we haveset up the Customer Centre to facilitate accessto all they need.

Matt Murphy: I want to ask you about thecontribution of the various GSI Programmesto the Nation, starting with Groundwater?

Peadar McArdle: Groundwater is the unseenpart of the water cycle and yet on a nationalbasis it provides 25% of our water supplies. Wehave important aquifers – areas of water-bear-ing ground – such as the limestones of theMidlands, the sandstones in the south and theextensive areas with sand and gravel deposits.The EU Water Framework Directive hasensured that groundwater is considered as anintegral part of water resources and GSI hasworked with the EPA and other partners toensure successful river basin district manage-ment. In addition we do GroundwaterProtection Schemes on a county basis, wherewe outline important aquifers and determinewhich parts of the aquifers are vulnerable topollution – in other words areas where theaquifer is not overlain by an impermeable cover

of rock or subsoil. This allows us to assist localauthority planners by describing appropriateresponses to various planning applications anddevelopment plans.

Matt Murphy: What about your MineralsProgram?

Peadar McArdle: Mining and mineral devel-opment are activities that GSI has always beenassociated with. Companies undertaking explo-ration in Ireland lodge reports with our parentDepartment (of Communications, Marine andNatural Resources) and we have built a sub-stantial database which assists not only futuremineral exploration but also a range of otheractivities. Modern mining meets strict environ-mental and safety standards and generatesimportant foreign reserves and employmentopportunities. Accordingly it is important thatthe potential for mineral discoveries is under-stood not only by mining companies but also bylocal authorities. GSI undertakes a methodol-ogy – Minerals Potential Mapping – thatensures the mineral potential is understood andthat areas with high potential are not sterilisedthrough competing land uses.

Another dimension of mineral extraction isthe availability of aggregates to support con-struction and infrastructure development, suchas transport routes. Aggregates may be derivedeither from crushed rock or sand and graveldeposits. Aggregates are assessed throughAggregates Potential Mapping, a methodologyto assist planners make land use decisions whilebeing conscious of the distribution of importantaggregates resources. The methodology delin-eates the probability that aggregates exist withinan area and assigns relative potentials to eacharea. Factors such as overburden thickness,nature of rock type, proximity to market andaccessibility are all evaluated. The resultingmap shows areas categorised on the basis ofaggregate potential, ranging from very high tovery low.

Matt Murphy: Does GSI do any work onnatural hazards?

Peadar McArdle: The stability of our physi-cal environment is central to our quality of life.For example, it is only recently we all becameconscious of the risk of landslides. Workingwith its partners, GSI has built a database con-taining almost 100 historical landslide eventson the island of Ireland and these claimed a totalof 32 lives. We intend to undertake susceptibil-ity mapping to identify areas at risk, particularlyfrom bogflows which are relatively prevalent inIreland. There are additional hazards, such asmine hazards, surface subsidence, contaminatedland and water, where GSI has had an involve-ment. We need to carry out systematic baselineand repeat surveys in order to monitor our envi-ronment. Many of these would be airborne orsatellite-based and very cost-effective as aresult.

Matt Murphy: GSI also runs geologicalmapping programmes?

Peadar McArdle: While GSI uses a varietyof remote sensing techniques to survey bothoffshore and onshore, there is an ongoing needfor field-based mapping, including Bedrock andSubsoil Maps. Bedrock maps at a scale of1:100,000 are now available for the wholecountry and each has an explanatory booklet.These maps are rapid compilations of existinginformation but show the local geology in somedetail – for example, the distribution of rocktypes – and illustrate the rich variety of bedrock

throughout the country. They are used by awhole range of people including engineers,planners, prospectors and students. We havenow started a new series of 1:50,000 maps,based on modern mapping but showing pointdata such as outcrops and boreholes. These willallow users to estimate the accuracy of mapsand are urgently needed by many.

In parallel we produce a map series showingthe distribution, approximate depth and natureof subsoils. These are called Quaternary Mapsafter the geological age in which the Ice Ageprevailed because many deposits result from thedevelopment and melting of the ice sheets,which once covered our countryside. We arecurrently mapping in Louth and Westmeath,backed up by systematic drilling, and the result-ing maps are used not only by students but alsoby engineers, local authorities and industryinterested in sand and gravel deposits and her-itage features.

Matt Murphy: You mentioned heritage fea-tures. What heritage role does GSI have?

Peadar McArdle: Many people are unawareof the importance of landscape and geologicalheritage. They will look at, say, the Burren andappreciate its unique flora and fauna, and itsremarkable historical and archaeological her-itage without realising that none of these wouldexist were it not for the underlying foundationof those beautiful limestone pavements thatmake the Burren so unique. We work with boththe National Parks and Wildlife Service andlocal authorities to identify and prioritise fea-tures of geological heritage on both a nationaland county basis. This is done on a thematicbasis and involves good science and peer serv-ices. We are fortunate that in every part ofIreland, not just the Burren or the Giant’sCauseway, there are remarkable stories in ourlandscape and its bedrock. On Valentia Island,for example, are the preserved footprints of oneof the world’s earliest known salamanders andthe locality is greatly appreciated by local resi-dents.

Matt Murphy: Do you find that local com-munities are interested in your work?

Peadar McArdle: Many communities main-tain contact with us particularly in relation tolandscape tourism and the associated opportuni-ties to establish sustainable economicenterprises, which deliver real benefits locally.We began this process of engagement someyears ago by preparing walking and drivingguides, often in co-operation with our col-leagues in the Geological Survey of NorthernIreland. Now we tend to be partners in multi-disciplinary projects, which are underpinned byEuropean funding. The Breifne project, forexample, is a Cross-Border initiative centred onthe uplands of the northwest, which is develop-ing a new tourism brand, based on theintegrated resources of its landscape. A similarproject is underway along the Waterford coast,the Copper Coast Geopark, one of a network ofEuropean Geoparks. These are exciting projectswhere we can add value to the commitment andcontribution of vibrant local communities anddone in collaboration with local authorities andadditional partners.

Matt Murphy: How do local authoritiesbenefit, especially with planning applica-tions?

Peadar McArdle: We regard the local author-ities as being among our key customers. Many

of the products we undertake for them assist inmaking decisions regarding competing landuses, in establishing county development plansand ultimately, of course, in deciding on plan-ning applications. Groundwater ProtectionSchemes and Aggregate Potential Mapping willin future be available on our website so thatindividuals as well as local authority officialshave easy access to them. In addition, GSI isroutinely consulted in relation to a variety ofplanning issues, including environmentalimpact assessments.

Matt Murphy: How does GSI assist in roadbuilding by the National Roads Authority?

Peadar McArdle: While we do not workdirectly with the National Roads Authority atpresent, we do make significant inputs to sup-port transport routes and other constructioninfrastructure. We have already spoken aboutAggregate Potential Mapping which is impor-tant here. We also maintain a database – calledthe Geotechnical Database – which providessystematic information on the nature and depthof overburden especially in urban areas. Ourdatabase is built from engineering and geologi-cal reports received from consulting engineers,site investigation companies and local authori-ties – and these are also the customers for thisdatabase. With more than 50,000 records, it isnow being transformed digitally for ease of use.

Matt Murphy: What maps do you produceand is the whole country up to date?

Peadar McArdle: Our main map product isthe 1:100,000 scale bedrock map series and thisis available for the whole country. However,work on the more detailed 1:50,000 scale mapseries with site-specific information, has onlyjust started and it will take a generation to com-plete. It is being done on a prioritised basis,wherever there are complexities or the level ofthe existing data is weak. For subsoils, or Qua-ternary, maps, we have only 50% coverage and,again, we are proceeding on a prioritised basis,with emphasis on supporting the National Spa-tial Strategy. We do not publish other onshoremaps but there are a total of 55 digital databasesavailable in GSI, including the various layers ofthe Groundwater Protection Schemes, Aggre-gates Potential Mapping, distribution ofbedrock exposures and boreholes. Every effortis made to respond pragmatically to customerneeds but we have to recognise that, in manycases, countrywide coverage is a long-termcommitment.

Mapping & Monitoring the Environment

Dr Peadar McArdle

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Sherkin Comment 2005 – Issue No. 39 ..................................................................................................................................................................Page 19

Matt Murphy: Can Ireland gain economi-cally from the Seabed Survey?

Peadar McArdle: Readers of Sherkin Com-ment will already be familiar with the work ofthe Seabed Survey. The Survey of the deepwaterseabed was outsourced to the private sector and,since 2002, the shallow water area has been sur-veyed by the Marine Institute, as our strategicpartner. The two organisations have a JointWorking Group to ensure maximum benefit isderived from these surveys. Our seabed classifi-cation maps, when combined with fish stockdata, are used to prepare fish habitat maps,which not only assist fisheries but can alsoinform national and European policy. The edgeof our continental shelf is marked by an interna-tionally-recognised spectacular development ofcold-water coral. Located in topographicallydistinct carbonate mounds, their distribution hasbeen extended and their shape detailed by oursurveys – activities that are important in terms ofboth biodiversity and heritage. This summer wehave the exciting prospect that the IntegratedOcean Drilling Program, a world-class initiative,will drill some boreholes at these mounds andthis is an important opportunity for Irish Sci-ence. Working with our partners, we have alsodone some deep seismic surveys on the remoteHatton Bank which will provide a frameworkfor future hydrocarbons exploration.

Matt Murphy: Are the results readily avail-able to the public?

Peadar McArdle: GSI has made considerableinvestment in its information management sys-tem to ensure the results are readily accessible.A major data storage system has been built, cur-rently holding in excess of 3.5 terabytes of dataon the Seabed Survey. We have placed a copy ofall this data on the Marine Grid of NUI Galway.This is essentially a supercomputer whichensures we have a valid copy of all data shoulddifficulties arise with the GSI system. The NUI

Galway Marine Grid is also an effective infor-mation delivery system for our customers in thestate agencies, the third level research sectorand many schools.

Information management is equally critical forcustomers of our onshore data. Customers wantintegrated datasets, which are customised to theirneeds and delivered in a user-friendly way. Inresponse we have developed a digital DocumentManagement System with over 500,000 scannedrecords. At the same time, we are developing ageographical information system and a unifieddatabase system. These are essential stepping-stones to eventually making our informationsystem web-enabled. We want customers to beable to do business with us remotely, so that thequality of our service is independent of our loca-tion. This is important as we plan our relocationto Cavan. We realise that we have some distanceto travel still, but we were pleased to have175,000 visits to our websites in 2004.

Matt Murphy: Most of the charts availablefor bays and harbours around Ireland are upto 150 years old. Can you comment?

Peadar McArdle: Shipping in Irish watershas had to rely on maritime charts which, in theabsence of an Irish Hydrographic Office, havebeen maintained and updated by the UK Hydro-graphic Office. Some of these charts are basedon information collected as early as the mid-nineteenth century. The Seabed Survey hasprovided modern and accurate survey data forsome areas, including Clew, Killala and DublinBays. The new Clew Bay chart, based on arecent airborne laser survey, has significantlyupdated the older chart. In Dublin Bay, ship-board surveys have documented the delicatesand waves of the Burford Bank, for example,and other high-resolution features. These newcharts contribute to improved navigationalsafety and can be a basis for new shippingdevelopments.

Matt Murphy: What about all the otherbays and harbours?

Peadar McArdle: These will not be completedbefore the end of 2005 when this phase of theSeabed Survey comes to an end. At present GSIand MI are preparing a case for GovernmentFunding beyond 2005 to allow the completion ofthese and other shallow water surveys. Soon afterthe Seabed Survey started in 1999 it wasacknowledged that all its objectives, especiallyinshore surveys, could not be completed with theavailable budget. But the Government wouldwant to be convinced of the value and efficiencyof surveys to date before it would sanction fur-ther expenditure. That is our task at present.

Matt Murphy: Do you have an educationalpage on your website for schools?

Peadar McArdle: We have a number of fea-tures on our website which are of interest toschools. There are teacher notes to support thevideo/DVD versions of the TV series “Written inStone”. We are in discussion with the Associationof Geography Teachers of Ireland and othersconcerning the provision of training resources tosupport teachers involved in the new LeavingCertificate Geography Syllabus and some arelikely to be web-enabled. Our “Geology forEveryone” page is well worth a visit – it featureslandscape images from across Europe (“Europe’sLiving Landscapes”) which marked the acces-sion of new EU member states during the IrishPresidency last year. Having said all this, werecognise that we could provide more materialsfor schools on our website and we will be look-ing for new opportunities to do so.

Matt Murphy: What values drive yourwork programme in GSI?

Peadar McArdle: A key value of GSI is thatits work is knowledgeable and based on sounddefensible science. We expect that as a resultour products can be used in an authoritative andimpartial way. A second value for us is our

emphasis on customer needs. We take manyopportunities to listen to our customers and todiscuss how best to meet their needs, takingaccount of international best practise. We dothis both formally and informally. Every fouryears we carry out a marketing survey, called“Mapping the Customer”, and we are careful totake account of the results. Another value is ourcommitment to work in co-operation with arange of partners, including state agencies andlocal authorities, in order to maximise thenational benefits. And underpinning these val-ues is a commitment to the continueddevelopment of our own staff in order to meetthe evolving challenges we face.

Matt Murphy: Finally, what are the chal-lenges facing GSI?

Peadar McArdle: GSI is committed to pro-viding relevant services to key sectors of Irishlife. As Irish society changes so does the natureof services it requires and so GSI must evolve toprovide them. During the 1990s, we expandedthe range of sectors we serve, embraced digitaltechnology as a means of delivering servicesand worked hard to become customer-respon-sive. Looking to the future, we need to deliverproducts and services over the web, completethe Seabed Survey, undertake targeted surveysin priority areas to support the security andhealth of our communities, develop monitoringservices to support our environmental partnersand provide scientific validation for our workprogrammes through support of third levelresearch. In conclusion, I would like to thankSherkin Comment for this opportunity to talkabout the work of GSI.

Geological Survey of Ireland, Beggars Bush,Haddington Road, Dublin 4 . Tel 016782834 Fax 01 6782579 Website:www.gsiseabed.ie

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By Thomas A.Clair

IN North America, acid rainis produced in large part by thecombustion of coal for electri-cal production in the OhioValley and the East Coast ofthe United States, and metalsmelting and refining in cen-tral Canada (Figure 1). Theseindustries produce sulphurdioxide (SO2) which is con-verted to sulphuric acid(H2SO4) in the atmosphere.Nitric acid (HNO3) is also pro-duced by the combustion ofgasoline in transportation, andcontributes approximately20% of total atmospheric acid-ity.

Large-scale SO2 emissions

began in North America earlyin the 20th century, andpeaked in the late 1970’s whenhealth and environmentaldamage began to be reported.Legislation was enacted inboth Canada and the UnitedStates which reduced SO2 byalmost 50% in 20 years. Cur-rently, acid emissions in NorthAmerica are back to levels notseen since the 1920’s (Figure2) which have resulted inlarge-scale changes in sulphatedeposition patterns.

Many soils in eastern NorthAmerica have been depleted ofbuffering substances from acentury of acidification abuse.As rain water is filteredthrough these damaged soilson its way to streams andlakes, it encounters little

buffering material and thusremains high in acidity andlow in calcium and magne-sium. We applied the Model ofacidification of groundwater incatchments (MAGIC) (Cosbyet al. 1985) to 410 lakes scat-tered across a 3000 km stretchof eastern Canada (Figure 3) toassess how their chemistry haschanged over the last centuryand a half. We estimated pre-acidification conditions, theperiod of the worst deposition(mid-1970’s), current day, andinto the future. We estimatedfuture water chemistry, basedon current Canadian agree-ments and proposed UnitedStates reductions.

The pH distribution (ie acid-ity of water, the higher the pH,the lower the acidity) of lakesin each of the study regionsshows that water chemistrywas very much influenced byacid rain in each part of easternCanada. We show that pHdecreased significantly all over

eastern Canada from 1850 to1975 (Figure 4). The greatestchanges occurred in centralOntario which contained theworld’s largest single sulphurpollution source in the INCOnickel smelter. Acidity condi-tions have improvedsignificantly in all regions, butnot to pre-acidification levels.Based on our modelling, wepredict that pH values will stillnot return to pre-acidificationin the next 25 years, even witha further 50% reduction in sul-phur emissions.

We then narrowed our focusto a number of rivers in NovaScotia (located on the eastcoast far from pollutionsources) and found that a num-ber of rivers which used tocontain Atlantic salmon(Salmo salar) populationshave lost them due to acidifi-cation. Application of theMAGIC model has shown thatwater chemistry conditionswill not be suitable for salmon

survival for another 100 yearsin a number of rivers, evenwith very aggressive acid rainreductions (Clair et al 2004).

This result is the legacy ofdecades of acidification onhighly sensitive soils. As withmany other environmentalproblems, even when thesource of the problem has beendealt with, the effects will con-tinue to be felt for a long timeto come.

ReferenceClair, T. A., Dennis, I. F., Amiro, P.,

and Cosby, B. J.: 2004, ‘Past andfuture chemistry changes in acidi-fied Nova Scotian Atlantic salmon(Salmo salar) rivers: A dynamicmodelling approach’, Can. J. Fish.Aquat. Sci. 61, 1965–1975.

Cosby, B. J., Hornberger, G. M., Gal-loway, J. N., and Wright, R. F.:1985, ‘modelling the effects of aciddeposition: Assessment of a lumpedparameter model of soil water andstreamwater chemistry’, Water Re-sour. Res. 21, 51–63.

Thomas A. Clair PhD,Research Scientist,Environment Canada, POBox 6227, Sackville, NewBrunswick, CANADA

Origins of the Acid Rain Problem in North America andits Effects on Aquatic Ecosystems

Figure 2. Historical sulphur emissions in North America. Values are inrelative units. (from Belanger et al. )

Figure 4. Distribution of modelled and measured pH values at thestudy sites. Within each regional block, the 1st box shows thedistribution of modelled pre-acidification values, the 2nd shows 1975(worst case) distribution, the 3rd shows year 2000 values, while the4th box describes expected values under further agreed-to Canadianand currently proposed US emission reductions. The number of sitesin each region is given. Lines within the boxes are median values, boxlimits are 25 and 75 percentiles, and whiskers show the 10 and 90percentile values.

Figure 1. Sources of sulphur in North American air pollution.Industrial sources include mostly metal smelting and refining.

Figure 3. Location of 410 lakes in eastern Canada where geochemical modelling was conducted.

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By Declan T.G. Quigley

GURNARDS (Triglidae) or SeaRobins as they are known in NorthAmerica, belong to a moderately largefamily of demersal marine fishes com-prising about 14 genera and 100species in tropical and temperate seasworldwide. In European Atlantic seasthe family is represented by 4 generaincluding 9 species, only 5 of whichhave been recorded from Irish watersto date (Table 1). The Flying Gurnard(Dactylopterus volitans) whichbelongs to a separate family (Dacty-lopteridae), has only recently beenrecorded (4 records) from Irish waters.

All gurnards have the lowest three(2 in Peristedion) rays of each pec-toral fin thickened and separate. Inlife these rays are used as tactileorgans to search the sea-bed for foodand also to raise the fish off the bot-tom, thus increasing its range ofvision. Gurnards have heavilyarmoured heads with strong spinesand rows of sharp spines along theback and each side of the dorsal fins.They are gregarious fish, which formloose shoals. The name “gurnard” isthought to derive from the French“grogner” (to grunt). Gurnard canproduce audible growls or grunts bymuscular contractions acting on theswim bladder. Sound production isthought to help keep shoals in contactduring feeding and spawning andmay also be used as a form of aggres-sive behaviour. Gurnards spawnduring the summer months. Afterhatching, the young remain pelagicfor a short period (6–10 weeks)before assuming a demersal mode oflife.

Red GurnardChelidonichthys cuculus

The Red Gurnard can be foundfrom shallow inshore waters down tomoderate depths (250m), over a widevariety of substrates, including sand,mud, gravel and even rock. It is dis-tributed from the British Isles (rarelyin the North Sea and S Norway)southwards via the Azores, Madeiraand the Mediterranean Sea (rarely innorthern and eastern parts) to Mauri-tania, north of 15oN. Although thespecies is relatively common in Irishwaters, it appears to be particularlyabundant off the SW (Co Kerry,14.7%), NW (Co Mayo, 20.4%), N(Co Donegal, 41.4%) and NE (CoAntrim, 16.7%) coasts where >90%of all rod & line caught specimens(weighing >907gm) have beenrecorded by the Irish Specimen FishCommittee (ISFC) – (Figure 1). TheIrish record, weighing 1.63kg, wascaptured off Belmullet, Co Mayo in1968 and exceeds the UK rod & linerecord of 1.295kg, captured off SarkIsland, English Channel, in 1995. Itgrows to a maximum length ofc.50cm. The snout ends in three shortspines each side and the pectoral finsonly just reach the vent in this species.

Grey GurnardChelidonichthys gurnardusThe Grey Gurnard is an inshore

species, living at depths of 20–50m,exceptionally from 10 to 140m, com-monly on sandy bottoms but alsowith decreasing frequency on mud,shell and rocky bottoms. It is also fre-quently caught near the surface atnight. The species is distributed fromIceland, Norway and the southernBaltic southwards to southernMorocco, Madeira and the Mediter-ranean, including the Black Sea. It isperhaps the most common and widelydistributed gurnard species found inIrish waters. Like the Red Gurnard, itappears to be particularly abundantoff the SW (Co Kerry, 13.2%), NW(Co Mayo, 16.2%), N (Co Donegal,26.9%) and NE (Co Antrim, 25.7%)coasts where >80% of all rod & linecaught specimens (weighing>680gm) have been recorded by theISFC (Figure 1). The Irish record,weighing 1.39kg, was captured offRosslare, Co Wexford in 1967 andexceeds the UK rod & line record of1.105kg, captured off Caliach Point,Mull, Scotland, in 1976. It grows to amaximum length of c.50cm. The pec-toral fins are short and do not reachthe vent in this species.

Tub GurnardChelidonichthys lucerna

The Tub Gurnard is a relativelyabundant species in inshore waters of20–150m, extending in decreasing fre-quency to depths of 300m. Largespecimens tend to be solitary, butsmaller specimens often live in smallschools on mud and muddy-sand orgravel bottoms. It is sometimes foundin surface waters and penetrating intoestuaries. The species is distributedfrom Norway to West Africa (CapeBlanc), including the Mediterraneanand Black Seas, but excludingMadeira and the Azores. This is thelargest of the gurnards found in Irishwaters (maximum length c.75cm).The current ISFC rod & line record,weighing 5.547kg (Achill, 1973) mar-ginally exceeds the UK record of5.528kg (Langlan Bay, Wales, 1976).Although the species is found all

around the Irish coast, it appears to beparticularly common off Co Mayo(72.1%) and Co Donegal (16.7%)where almost 90% of the ISFC speci-mens (weighing >2.268kg) have beenrecorded (Figure 1). The pectoral finsreach well past the vent in this species.

Streaked GurnardChelidonichthys lastovizaThe Streaked Gurnard can be

found from shallow inshore watersdown to moderate depths (150m),over sand and muddy ground inter-spersed with rocky patches. It isdistributed from the British Islessouthwards via the Azores, Madeiraand the Mediterranean Sea (exceptthe Black Sea) to the Cape of GoodHope (South Africa) and northwardsto Mozambique. However, thespecies is generally regarded as rarenorth of the English Channel, and notcommon even there. Indeed, it is con-sidered to be an occasional latesummer migrant in northern Euro-pean waters; rare in the North Sea,with only one record from Sweden.Until recently, the species wasregarded as scarce in Irish waters, butrecent evidence would suggest that itmay be relatively common, at least insome areas (e.g. SW Kerry & NWDonegal) where it may have beenpreviously confused with the RedGurnard. A relatively small gurnard(maximum length c.40cm), it is char-acterised by the near vertical headprofile and a body covered with dis-tinct traverse ridges of skinoriginating at the lateral line. It feedsexclusively on crustaceans, espe-cially swimming crabs, which mayexplain its observed gregariousbehaviour near the surface. Althoughit is not currently recognised by theIrish Specimen Fish Committee,specimens weighing up to 976gm(Broadhaven Bay, Co Mayo, 1970)have been recorded on rod & line inIrish waters. The latter specimen sig-nificantly exceeds the current UK rod& line record of 637gm (Loch Goil,Scotland, 1971).

Piper Gurnard – Trigla lyraThe Piper Gurnard is primarily a

deep-water species, normally foundon the upper continental slope(300–700m) but occasionally closerinshore (10m). It is distributed fromnorth of the British Isles and NorthSea, southwards to Walvis Bay(South Africa), including Madeiraand the Mediterranean Sea, butabsent from the Black Sea. Althoughthere are very few records from Irishwaters where it has no commercialvalue, the species may be more com-mon in deeper offshore waters. Itreaches a maximum length of about60cm. The opercular spine is verylong, reaching backwards to the mid-dle of the pectoral fins. Its biology isvirtually unknown.

Long-finned GurnardChelidonichthys obscura

The Long-finned Gurnard inhabitsshallow inshore waters (15–55m),mainly over rocky ground. It is dis-tributed from the southern coast of theBritish Isles to Mauritania, includingthe Azores, Madeira, and the Mediter-ranean, but it is absent from thenorthern Aegean and Black Seas. Thespecies is extremely rare in northernEuropean waters. Indeed there areonly about six records from the west-ern English Channel, all dating fromthe mid 19th century. There are noconfirmed Irish records to date. A rel-atively small gurnard (maximumlength c.40cm), the second dorsal finspine is greatly elongated and twice aslong as the remaining spines. Its biol-ogy is virtually unknown.

Armed GurnardPeristedion cataphractumThe Armed Gurnard is essentially a

deep-water species, usually found onsoft sand and muddy bottoms atdepths down to 500m, but occasion-ally at 30–80m (particularlyjuveniles). This species is common inthe Mediterranean and the Atlanticfrom Biscay southwards via Moroccoto Angola. The species is extremelyrare in northern European waters;there are only about 6 records from asfar north as the English Channel, alldating from the 19th century.Although there are no Irish records todate, it may occur in deep offshorewaters off the Irish coast. The speciesis easily distinguished by its enor-mously long snout extended into twoflattened projections. The body iscompletely covered with hard scutes,each with a backward pointing spineand there are a number of fine barbelson the lower jaw. It grows to a maxi-mum length of c.40cm.

Commercial LandingsGurnards have long been regarded

as an epicurean fish in several Euro-pean countries, particularly Franceand Spain. The total annual Europeancatch is estimated at 8–9,000 tonnes.Over the last decade, gurnards havebecome an increasingly importantcommercial species in Irish waterswith annual live weight landings aver-aging about 90 tonne, valued atc.€735k. The main commercialgurnard species in Irish waters aregrey, red and tub, estimated to repre-sent 75.6%, 19.9% and 4.2% of thetotal catch in the Irish Sea respec-tively. Counties Donegal (33.1%),Dublin (26.5%) and Cork (18.2%)appear to account for almost 80% ofall the Irish landings (Figure 1).

Declan T.G. Quigley, DingleOceanworld (Mara Beo Teo), TheWood, Dingle, Co Kerry. Mobile:087-9080521; Email:[email protected]

Gurnards (Triglidae)in Irish and European Atlantic Seas

Red Gurnard – C. cuculus Grey Gurnard – C. gurnardus


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Streaked Gurnard – C. lastovizaTub Gurnard – C. lucerna


THE EPA has produced abooklet to assist farmers, farmmanagers, advisors, etc., de-velop a scope of work for theassessment of risk to ground-water under lands where it isintended to recover organicwastes, through controlledlandspreading procedures. Italso explains the reasons whya groundwater risk assessmentis required. Certain soils/sub-

soils as a result of naturalearth-forming processes maybe shallow or highly perme-able. Such soils render under-lying groundwaters vulnerableto pollution from surface ac-tivities. These areas of ground-water vulnerability must beidentified and documented sothat appropriate landspreadingstrategies can be devised/im-plemented. Animal wastes

contain large numbers of mi-crobial pathogens (faecal bac-teria, Cryptosporidium andviruses). These microbialpathogens pose a significantrisk to human health and ifthey enter groundwater, renderit unsuitable for drinking.Soils and subsoils provide pro-tection to groundwater by fil-tering out and slowing downthe movement of microbes,which have a limited survivaltime in this type of environ-ment. The longer the microbesare retained in the soils/sub-soils, the more groundwater isprotected as the microbeshave more time to die off. Thedegree of protection dependson the type and thickness ofthe soils/subsoils with greaterprotection being afforded bythick soils/subsoils with ahigh clay content. Microbesare known to survive in soilsand groundwater for up to 100days. Microbes can move con-siderable distances in the sub-surface under the rightconditions. Movement of mi-

crobes can range from negligi-ble distances in compact claysoils/subsoils to 20 m/day insand and gravel and up tokilometres in karstic areas. So,when determining the suitabil-ity of land for the acceptanceof slurry from off-farmsources, the type and thick-ness of the soil/subsoil needsto be determined. It is ac-knowledged that organic fer-tilisers and wastes, such asanimal slurries/manure fromintensive farm enterprise,sewage sludges, poultry litterand industrial waste watertreatment plant sludges are,and will continue to be spreadon agricultural land and pro-vide beneficial nutrients tocrops. However, many ofthese materials are also poten-tially polluting if not properlymanaged and can pose a riskto groundwater and surfacewater quality.

The risks to groundwaterand surface water quality areinfluenced by:

• The chemical and micro-biological content of thewaste

• The method, timing andrate of application

• The groundwater vulnera-bility

• The proximity of agroundwater source(water supply, i.e. LocalAuthority Supply, GroupWater Scheme, Privateborehole or spring)

• The groundwater resource

(the aquifer underlyingthe proposed spreadlands)

• The type and state of veg-etation

• The weather

Table 1 outlines some of thekey guidance elements forgroundwater protection inrelation to landspreadingactivities. In summary thereshould be no landspreadingover Regionally ImportantAquifers where the soil coveris less than 2m, and no spread-ing over other aquifer classeswhere the soil cover is lessthan 1m. The Best PracticeGuidance in the document will

help one identify and docu-ment areas where groundwateris at risk from – vulnerable to– pollution from landspread-ing activities.

“Landscaping of OrganicWaste – Guidance onGroundwater VulnerabilityAssessment of Land”Produced by theEnvironmental ProtectionAgency, PO Box 3000,Johnstown Castle, CountyWexford, Ireland. www.epa.ieISBN: 1–84095–110–9 Price: €7.00

Utilising manure and slurrywhile protecting human health

(GWPS GroundwaterProtectionScheme)

Subsoil overlying bedrock protects wells from microbial pathogens

Example of part of a groundwater vulnerability map (courtesy ofGeological Survey of Ireland)

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SHERKIN COMMENT is a quarterly publication of Sherkin Island Marine Stationaiming to promote the awareness of our natural resources, their use and protection.SUBSCRIPTION: to receive a year’s subscription to “Sherkin Comment”, pleasesend a cheque or money order for €6.68 for Ireland and £6.00stg for the U.K.(sterling cheques accepted from UK); send €9.50 for Europe and €10.67 for the restof the world (surface postage) – payable to Sherkin Comment, Sherkin Island MarineStation, Sherkin Island, Co. Cork. Ireland. Tel: 028–20187 Fax: 028–20407 Email: [email protected]

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STAFF: Publisher, Matt Murphy; Editor, Matt Murphy; Editorial Assistant, Susan MurphyWickens; Typesetting, Susan Murphy Wickens. ISSN 0791–2447 © 2005

Sherkin Island Marine Station website: http://homepage.eircom.net/~sherkinmarine

SSUUBBSSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN FFOORRMM


By Brendan KeaneAN existing facility under expan-

sion at Foynes in Co. Limerick willsoon change the way solvent wastegenerated in Ireland is dispatched fromIreland and disposed of elsewhere.

In September 2004, Irish Bulk Liq-uid Storage (IBLS) received a licencefrom the EPA to receive and processwaste solvents.

The existing facility has for the last20 years stored new solvents in bulktanks prior to distribution by roadtankers to the Irish chemical andpharmaceutical industry. The new ex-panded facility simply operates in re-verse. Once the user of the solventhas finished with the material it canbe safely re-dispatched to the newlylicensed plant at Foynes. Here thematerial will be carefully analysed tocheck its composition prior to itstransfer into one of two 1,000m³ stor-age tanks.

Once these tanks have been filledthe mixed solvent is pumped out ofthese vessels into the hold of a wait-ing ship. These ships are the same asthose already delivering the new sol-vents and are loaded across the samecustom designed jetty.

From Foynes the ship departs toDenmark and at the port of Nyberg it isoff-loaded into a newly built quay-sidefacility that can accept up to 10,000tonnes of solvents at a time.

This large storage facility feeds di-rectly into the integrated Danish WasteManagement Solution – Kom-munekemi.

In 1974 a far thinking Danish gov-ernment established the first inte-grated National Waste ManagementSolution. Kommunekemi handles allof Denmark’s Hazardous Waste.Since its establishment, it has becomea centre for excellence in hazardouswaste management, and in 1996 itstarted to receive hazardous waste

from Ireland. But our Danish colleagues don’t

just safely dispose of this material,they get a beneficial re-use of the ma-terial and use its energy value to heatand light the homes of the local com-munity of 25,000 people. WhileKommunekemi’s three waste inciner-ators safely turn hazardous materialsinto carbon dioxide and water vapourthey also provide all of the districtheating and electricity for the nearbytown. This is done by recovering asmuch of the heat as possible from theburning of the waste and utilising thisheat/ energy to benefit the commu-nity. Current Irish imports provide allof the heating needs for 2,500 housesand electricity for 1,250 homes – allfrom waste material that Irish produc-ers need to safely dispose of.

In time it as estimated that theFoynes facility could provide enoughmaterial to heat 13,000 houses andelectricity for 8,000 – all through theexpansion of the already existing fa-cility at the port of Foynes.

As the existing storage tanks ofFoynes are already used for distribu-tion of solvent, its re-export throughthe expanded facility is not expectedto significantly change the traffic inthe area, especially as it now has ac-cess through the newly opened portroad which avoids the picturesquetown of Foynes. Through the use ofstate of the art handling systems nosolvent laden vapours will be allowedto escape from the operation ensuringthat the local community and envi-ronment are fully protected. Finally,as the whole operation operates underan EPA licence, it will always operatewithin strictly defined standards de-signed to minimise any risk for theenvironment or community.

IBLS itself has a long history ofworking safely within the communitywithout incident. This expansion ofthe facility will operate with the sameteam of professionals bolstered with

an expanded team which will includeon-site chemists for testing andchecking material prior to arriving onsite in road tankers.

So even though our Danish friendsget most of the benefit of this ‘dis-carded’ material, some benefits willalso apply in Ireland. For example:

• Less tanks of material will ply upand down the main Dublin Corkroad and while this might onlyseem to be less congestion, italso means less valuable dieselbeing used.

• The transport in one large spe-cially designed double hulledvessel from Ireland also reducesthe risk on sea voyages in con-tainer ships.

• The beneficial re-use of the mate-rial in Denmark and transport inbulk ship provides significantfinancial savings to hard pressedIrish industry in its fight to pro-vide jobs and stay competitivewhile staying at the forefront ofenvironmental compliance.

• The expansion at Foynes will

ensure that valuable jobs areretained in the area while the com-munity prospers from a port witha future.

• The final benefit of Foynes alsohelps the Irish nation. Last yearsolvent waste amounted to almost80% of Ireland’s hazardous wasteexports. Through expanding analready existing operational facil-ity and applying the right controlsvia an EPA licence Irelandbecomes almost totally self-suffi-cient. As a consequence there is

no need to build and operateanother expensive resource simi-lar to that which has taken theDanes over 20 years to get to thelevel of excellence that it nowenjoys with its nearby contentedcommunity.

Some Facts• Kommunekemi operates at

greater level of efficiency than astandard peat powered generatorstation.

• The local Nyberg community en-joys the lowest charges in Den-mark for heat and electricity.

• Kommunekemi currentlyprocesses 150,000 tonnes ofwaste annually and generatesapproximately 46.000MWh ofpower.

• On average 4 tonnes of Irishwaste will heat 1 home in Den-mark and provide half its electri-cal need for the whole year.

• Irish industry could save up to40% of its hazardous waste costswhen this facility is operational.

• Increasingly across Europe thistype of bulk blending is beingused to get hazardous wasteready to use its energy value.

Brendan Keane, Managing Director,Cedar Resource Management Ltd,Cedar House, Greenogue BusinessPark, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin. Tel:01– 4010250 Fax: 01– 4010260

Danes see light at end of Irish waste tunnel

The integrated Danish Waste Management Solution – Kommunekemi.

Energy production at the Kommunekemi facility.

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The New Encyclopaediaof Birds

Edited by Christopher Perrins

Oxford University Press,www.oup.co.uk

ISBN: 0-19-852506-0

Price: £35.00stg/2003What we have here is quite sim-

ply the ultimate single volumeguide to the planet’s birds. After aconcise introduction dealing withclassification and the evolutionand biology special, we are takenon a tour through the dazzlingarray of creatures that constitutethe order Aves. Over the span ofsix hundred beautifully illustratedpages, each of the worlds 172 fam-ilies is dealt with in turn, drawingon the knowledge and skills ofmany of the world’s leading or-nithologists and bird photogra-phers. Each chapter is sub-dividedinto headings covering breedingbiology, diet, conservation and en-vironment, distribution and formand function, alongside a factfilefor each family. Throughout thebook, these are interspersed withphoto-stories and articles of spe-cial interest. Anyone remotely in-terested in birds should buy thisbook – your passing interest couldquite easily become a lifelong fas-cination.

Rehabilitation &Restoration of Degraded

ForestsBy David Lamb & Don Gilmore

IUCNwww.iucn.org

ISBN: 2-8327-0668-8

Price: £12.00stg/2003This book aims to inform of the

problem of degraded forests andprovide approaches for restorationand rehabilitation. Based soundlyon the principles of the Conventionon Biological Diversity, it uses fig-ures, tables and photographs tocompliment the text. Socio-eco-nomic and ecological changes areexplored in context using a rangeof worldwide case studies to high-light the theories presented. A verythorough and well presented text.

ChangeAdaptation of water resourcesmanagement to climate change

By Ger Bergkamp, BrettOrlando & Ian Burton

IUCNwww.iucn.org

ISBN: 2-8317-0702-1

Price: £10.50stg/2003Global warming and climate

change, two phases not often usedwhen discussing water resourcemanagement. An area of scienceand engineering not often consid-ered, or talked about by the generalpublic. As this small but informa-tive book shows, the impact of cli-mate change on the management ofour limited water resources hasbegun to shift. Using colour photo-

graphs, clear concise graphs and in-teresting case studies. The authorsshow how a changing world re-quires a new adaptive approach tothe problem of how to manage thewater resources for an increasingpopulation, while maintaining thebalance between our needs and anincreasingly unsettled environment.

Energy Law andSustainable Development IUCN Environmental policy

and Law paper No. 47

Edited by Adrian J Bradbrook& Richard L. Ottinger

IUCNwww.iucn.org

ISBN: 2-8317-0726-9

Price: £15.00stg/2003The biggest question in sustain-

able development is “how to mosteffectively implement the KyotoProtocol”. This book’s aim is toprovide some of this much-neededinformation. To help guide the keymembers in the energy debate, to-wards the development of renew-able energy sources. By usingdetailed scientific data and analy-sis, this complex and detailed bookoutlines methods of renewable en-ergy production. That could help allnations develop sustainable devel-opment. By explaining how the useof energy legislation can influencenations environmental constraintson energy production, and there-fore bring about the developmentof alternative energy technologies.

Complete Irish WildlifeBy Paul Sterry

Introduction by Derek Mooney

HarperCollinsPublishers Ltdwww.collins.co.uk

ISBN: 0 00 717629 5

Price: £14.00stg/2004Another title in the Collins

range of photo-field guides, thisbook does an admirable job of pre-senting the entire spectrum of Irishwildlife in just one volume. Therange of species covered is trulyimpressive including around 650vertebrates and over 650 plants –indeed, the non-specialist wouldhave to dig pretty deep to find aplant or animal from these shoreswhich is not included here. Thequality of the photos is such, thatgiven goods views (in the case ofmobile species) identificationshould always be possible. Thechoice of plant photos is equallythoughtful. All in all, this would bethe perfect companion anyone witha casual interest in natural historyand planning a visit to Ireland.

Irish HedgerowsNetworks For Nature

Edited and compiledby David Hickey

Networks for Nature,PO Box 9184, Churchtown,

Dublin 14.

ISBN: 0-9549060-0-4

Price: €12.50/2004

This is a beautifully illustratedand informative guide to thehedgerows which are so symbolicof the Irish countryside. Their his-tory, folklore and importance interms of biodiversity are all ex-plained. This book illustrates thathedgerows form a vital living net-work linking habitats that have be-come fragmented as a result ofmodern development, particularlysince Celtic Tiger and the resultanturban development. We are shownhow to plant and managehedgerows and the ensuing bene-fits to wildlife in general. Suitablefor novice wildlife enthusiasts andexperts alike, this publication is atimely reminder of how vital thesewildlife corridors really are.

Field Guide to theBumblebees of Great

Britain & IrelandBy Mike Edwards & Martin Jenner

Ocelli Limitedwww.ocelli.co.uk

ISBN: 0-9549713-0-2

Price: £9.99stg/2005This field guide uses colour

photographs and easy to use keysmaking it simple even for the be-ginner bumblebee enthusiast toidentify species in the field. Eachspecies has it’s own page whichprovides information on habitat,distribution and flight times. Thelayout means that all informationabout any particular species can beaccessed without having to flick todifferent sections of the book as isso often the case with field books.While easy to read, this book alsoprovides information on the physi-ology, habitat and conservation ofbumblebees for those with a morein depth interest in these insects.

Climate Change By Guy Jacques & Herve Le Treut

UNESCO Publishingwww.unesco.org/publishing

ISBN: 92-3-103938-5

Price: €14.50/2005This interesting book should

have this sub title: Everything youwanted to know about ClimateChange but were afraid to ask.

It covers the subject from everypossible angle from the climate inthe past and how it effected histor-ical views, to the modern erawhere it focuses on the complexprocess that are and may have beenthe causes of climate change. It ex-plains how these processes, oncestudied, can be used to make mod-els of the complex systems givinguseful predictions, which can beused to aid future environmentaldecisions. Despite being only 139pages long the book covers a diffi-cult and complex subject well witha stimulating and informative styleaccessible to the non-specialist.

El NinoFact and Fiction

Bruno Voituriez & Guy Jacques

UNESCO Publishing,www.unesco.org/publishing

ISBN: 92-3-103649-1

Price: €16.80/2000 Water and air, two of the most

fundamental components of theplanet, are the subjects of thissmall yet stimulating book. ElNino Fact and Fiction seeks to en-lighten the reader to the truth be-hind this most elusivephenomenon. By using clear andprecise language, together withcolour photographs and diagrams,the book explains that El Nino isneither a “mysterious” force northe wrath of ancient Aztec gods,but a drastic displacement ofweather systems that causes thedesert to become a flood and themarsh to turn to dust. El Nino atpresent still deifies prediction, butas this book shows it is beginningto yield its secrets. Secrets thatgive us enormous insight into the“climate machine” that is theplanet Earth.

Ocean SciencesBridging the millennia

A spectrum of historicalaccounts

Edited by an IOC-FIO panel

UNESCO Publishing andChina Oceanic Press (COP)

www.unesco.org/publishing

ISBN: 92-3-103936-9

Price: €45.00/2004The History of the oceans is a

vast and deep subject, as the seasare themselves. But it is also thetopic of this volume of works thatwere presented at the sixth inter-national congress, on the historyof oceanography in 1998. The va-riety of papers presented is exten-sive, ranging from the lives andachievements of the founders ofbiological oceanography, to therise and fall of the tide mill, withspecial focus on the papers pro-vided by the host country, China.All are carefully written in a styleeasily understood by the scientistand lay person alike. Overall thisvolume provides insight and dis-covery for any reader interested inhistory or the oceans.

Beyond TropicalDeforestation

Edited by Didier Fabin

UNESCO Publishing/Ciaradwww.unesco.org/publishing

www.cirad.fr

ISBN: 92-3-103941-5

Price: €59.80/2004This is a collaboration of orig-

inal research papers written byspecialists from around the world,including ecologists, forest re-searchers, geographers and envi-ronmental engineers. Thecontributors cover issues of de-forestation, forest cover dynamicsand forest development and areseparated into sections based onchanges in forest cover estimates,the range of human/forest interac-tions and forest area dynamics in

relation to land use and develop-ment. New prospects for researchare explored, and principles areillustrated using both colour andblack & white figures. The topi-cal subject of deforestation iscovered in depth, and the range ofdisciplines and nationalities en-sures a well-rounded and bal-anced approach.

Marine Protected AreasFor Whales, Dolphins and

Porpoises

A World Handbook forCetacean Habitat

Conservation

By Erich Hoyt

Earthscanwww.earthscan.co.uk

ISBN: 1-84407-064-6 (s)ISBN: 1-84407-063-8 (h)

Price: £24.95stg/2005As befits a publication by the

WDCS this is the definitive hand-book to the status and conservationneeds of the world’s cetaceans.The major part of the book consistsof a region by region site gazetteer,listing in detail the measures beingtaken at marine sanctuaries acrossthe planet. Included in this sectionare case studies and a comprehen-sive contact list, making this an in-valuable source for students andworkers alike.

The first four chapters highlightthe conservation strategies, prob-lems and concerns facing the ma-rine environment in general andthe 84 known cetacean species inparticular. These features com-bined with superb coloured plates,which include a simple but effec-tive ID guide makes this a most at-tractive volume.

World Water ActionsMaking Water Flow For All

By F. Guerquin, T. Ahmed, M. Hua, T. Ikeda, V. Özbilen

& M. Schuttelaar


ISBN: 1-84407-078-6 (h)ISBN: 1-84407-085-9 (s)

Price: £25.00stg/2003This report is a result of an in-

ventory of water actions and im-plementation of commitments ofgovernments and organisations,from the international to the grass-roots level, since the SecondWorld Water Forum in The Hague,the Netherlands, in 2000. Itdemonstrates how this worldwater community has progressedin the better use and managementof water and water resources.There has been significantprogress in creating a more en-abling environment for water useand management. Much is hap-pening at the community level.

The book has three major sec-tions. The first Assessing Chal-lenges, Initiating Change, includestopics such as financing water in-frastructure and services, andwater management. The secondsection Focusing on Key Areas,

Promoting Change, covering watersupply and sanitation, water for en-ergy, health and agriculture. Thefinal section, Taking Stock, is atimely reminder that water must bemanaged. A book to recommendfor decision makers.

Strategic EnvironmentalAssessment in Action

By Riki Therivel


ISBN: 1-84407-042-5

Price: £24.95stg/2004This book is intended as a man-

ual to help people to set up goodstrategic environmental assess-ments. It focuses in particular onthe implementation of the EU Di-rective 2001/42/EC and the UnitedNations Economic Commissionfor Europe Protocol. It exploreswhat the strategic actions and SEAare and the benefits and con-straints, together with examples.The people who should be in-volved, How to describe the base-line environment, Different typesof alternatives to strategic action,How to predict, evaluate and miti-gate impacts. The final chapter re-visits the concept of SEA qualityand how to assure it, together withhow long it takes. A book essentialfor consultants and planners, espe-cially in local government.

The Burren andthe Aran Islands

Exploring the Archaeology

By Carleton Jones

The Collins Press, West LinkPark, Doughcloyne, Wilton,

Cork.

ISBN: 1-903464-61-7 (h)ISBN: 1-903464-49-8 (s)

Price: €35.00(h)/€25.00(s)/2004One so often reads of the impor-

tance of the flora of the Burren butnot so about the equal importanceof its archaeology. This book givesa fascinating insight into both theBurren and Aran Islands monu-ments and their people over thepast 5,000 to 6,000 years. In his in-troduction the author has so aptlysaid “When we visit a megalithictomb we can touch the same stonesthat were quarried, split, heavedand hammered into place by otherhands long before our time and it iswell to remember these monu-ments were built by individuals. Intheir time they were as real as weare today. The descriptions, photo-graphs and drawings of the arte-facts excavated make it a superbguide to two of Ireland’s most pre-cious areas.

Publications of Interest

Books reviewed by: Ann-Marie Barnard, Matt Murphy, Riann Sheehy, Ben Tinker, Fergal Twomey, Jessica Wiegand, Julian Wyllie


IN 1976 The Irish Specimen Fish Committeedecided to recognise the achievement of anangler who has authenticated specimenclaims for 10 different species of fish. BillRyan, who describes himself as an “ordinaryangler”, tells us how he achieved thisspecimen angling milestone.

I am an ordinary angler who has had extraor-dinarily good fortune. Any angler who putssome thought and time into the sport will suc-ceed! Most of the information one needs is inthe Irish Specimen Fish Committee Reportswhich contain a mine of information. I have hadmany great adventures on my quest and thejourney has been an enjoyable one. I hope youhave as much fund in your angling endeavoursas I have had so far and always be mindful ofthe words of Izaak Walton, “Tis not all of fish-ing to fish”.

1958 – the beginningGrowing up by the sea in Kilkee, West Clare

I was destined to be bitten by the sea anglingbug. After all the Atlantic was outside the halldoor and sometimes in winter, inside as well!As a young lad growing up in the sixties Iwatched as the fishermen in summer returnedwith their currachs laden with mackerel whichthey had caught on hand lines and mackerelspinners – no Ugly Sticks, multiplier reels andfeathers then! Great shoals of mackerel wouldboil in the bay in summer and my late fatherwould take us fishing with mackerel spinners,light spinning rods and fixed spool reels. I stillget the same thrill catching mackerel today onlight gear as I did then.

One day, my father, who was a very success-ful salmon angler, mentioned salmon bass!When the salmon were not running he fished forbass on the local beach in Kilkee. Eight years ofage, armed with a hand line, and lugwormmounted on hooks dangling from a brass pater-noster I threw it into the surf at the east end ofKilkee and caught a 5 lbs. bass! My fatherhelped me land it and he was rewarded by beingspiked by the bass! That was the start of mygreat adventure!

July 1978: bass (10 lbs 1 oz) Brandon Bay, Co. Kerry.

I caught many bass from the West Clarebeaches of Kilkee, Doughmore and The WhiteStrand during the sixties before I heard of aspecimen bass and the magic weight of 10 lbs.By 1968 I had moved to Dublin to work, but forthe next ten years I dragged my wife Jacinta toCastlegregory in Kerry every autumn, to fishthe storm beaches for bass. I had heard of thegreat bass fishing exploits of Inland FisheriesTrust staff, namely the late Des Brennan and hisangling partner, the late Kevin Linnane, andwas determined to get some of the action!Though I caught many good bass in Kerry andmy wife had read a library of books, the tenpounder eluded me! Then in the summer of1978 Jacinta announced that we were going toKerry in the summer for a change.

On the first day of this summer holiday inKerry, the sun was shining, Brandon Bay wasflat from The Magharees to Brandon Pier and Idespaired. Sometime during the day I managedto dig lug and when the question was asked thatevening, “would you like to go fishing for awhile?” I jumped at the opportunity. More inhope than anything else I tried opposite theGrotto at the Fahamore end of Brandon Bay.Putting eight lug on a 6/0 hook I cast out andwaited.

I could see the bottom for yards out and therewasn’t a hint of a wave. “Autumn surf whereare you now?” I thought. Suddenly the rodbuckled and I was into a good fish.

After a decent scrap I beached my best bassever which I estimated to be about 9 lbs. Anangler fishing nearby thought it was bigger andtold me to get it weighed quickly. I went to ashop in Castlegregory and had the weight con-firmed at 10 lbs 1 oz. My first specimen, a bass,out of the blue!Lesson 1: Specimen fish can be caught in allthe wrong conditions!

October 1978: flounder (2 lbs 10.75 ozs) Kilkee Bay, Co. Clare.

Flounder fishing can be very good at thewestern end of Kilkee Bay in September andOctober. It was the day after a wedding and Iwas suffering badly. My younger brothers bor-rowed my fishing gear and my bait and wentfishing. Later in the day I decided to see howthey were doing. They had a few nice flounder.“Have a cast yourself”, one of them offered. Idid not feel too good but had a go anyway. Itwas not long before the rod tip nodded vigor-ously and the line dropped before tightening upagain. I struck and was into a good flounderwhich planed its way along the bottom in zigzag fashion before being beached! It lookedgood and weighed in at 2 lbs 10.75 ozs. Speci-men number two and two in one year!Lesson 2: Never pass up a chance to fish!

July 1979: painted ray (11 lbs 8 oz) Doughmore Beach north of Doonbeg, Co. Clare.Lesson 3: Set targets and experiment.

January 1981: lesser spotted dogfish (3.26 lbs) Doughmore, Co. Clare.

Winter sea fishing was unheard of in Kilkeewhen I was growing up and when I came toDublin in 1968 I left all my fishing gear at homein Clare. I was then introduced to winter Codfishing and my fishing season was extended tocover the whole year! Back to Clare late Janu-ary I decided to fish Doughmore in winter.

Frozen mackerel was all I had and again outof the blue I catch a lesser spotted dogfishwhich looks a bit bigger than usual. It weighedin at 3.26 lbs.Lesson 4: Fish never look at a calendar!

August 1981: wrasse (5.42 lbs) Baltard, near Doonbeg, Co .Clare.Lesson 5: Follow up good tips and be preparedto explore!

April 1984: twaite shad (2 lbs) St. Mullins on the River BarrowLesson 6: Rest up sometimes and soak in thescenery!

June 1984: Smoothound (8.27 lbs) Tinnebearna, Co. WexfordLesson 7: If you are not a distance caster, a bigbait in close sometimes works!

July 1985: Homelyn Ray (5 lbs 9 ozs) Killoughter, Co. Wicklow

My friends and I had taken a number of goodthornback ray from the shore at Killoughter, Co.Wicklow. One night I had a ray which lookeddifferent! I had it checked out at the CentralFisheries Board by biologist Dr. Paddy Fitz-maurice and it turned out to be a specimenHomelyn Ray of 5 lbs 9 ozs.Lesson 8: Learn to identify your fish – if itslooks odd, consult an expert!

August 1995: trigger fish (4.23 lbs) The Bridges of Ross, Co. ClareLesson 9: You never know what might turn up– be alert!

August 1996: grey mullet (5.06 lbs) River Liffey, Dublin.

How I tried and tried to catch a specimengrey mullet! I have chased this fish all over thecountry from Clare to Lough Furnace in Co.Mayo, to Cork and Kerry and finally caught it ata train station in Dublin!

I had to bring my daughter Jennifer to Dublinone day and, like all anglers, as I nearedHeuston Station, I just had to check the Liffey!There, under the wall, were two huge grey mul-let cruising idly by. As I travelled everywhere

with the mullet gear and fresh white bread I wasarmed in a minute! I placed some bread on thesurface ahead of my target and tackled up! Asthe mullet were feeding on my offerings I intro-duced my bread with the sting and one gotstung! What a fight! It tried to go under thebridge and when I turned it, it skimmed the Lif-fey wall where line snagging weeds and briarswere growing out. Finally I had it on the surfaceand ready for the drop net. I got my daughter tohold the drop net just under the surface as Isteered the mullet over it. “Pull”, I shouted, tobe heard all over the city and we had it safely inthe net! A specimen grey mullet at 5.06 lbs. Tendifferent specimens after an 18-year quest.Lesson 10: Perseverance pays off!

In achieving my goal of ten different Speci-men Species I acknowledge the support andpatience of my family and friends and a specialthanks to the staff of the Central FisheriesBoard for all their help, advice and tips and theIrish Specimen Fish Committee for setting tar-gets for us anglers!

My next target 50 specimens. I have 5 to go!Bill Ryan, 9th December 2004

From the Irish Specimen Fish 2004 – AnnualReport of The Irish Specimen Fish Committee.Unfortunately room does not allow us toreproduce Bill Ryan’s adventures for all tenspecimen fish. His full story is available in theAnnual Report which is available on the webwww.irish-trophy-fish.com.

The Ten Steps of Catching Specimen Fish

Specimen trigger fish of 3.28 lbs taken by Bill Ryanin September 2004

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“A Beginner’s Guide to Ireland’sSeashore” is a pocket-sized guide,suitable for beginners of all ages.With the help of this book you will beable to explore the wonders ofmarine life on the shores aroundIreland. Available for €6.34 at allgood bookshops.

A Beginner’s Guide to

Ireland’sSeashore

A Sherkin Island Marine Station

PublicationNow a

Bestseller!

Available at all goodbookshops or order from:

Matt Murphy,Sherkin Island Marine Station,Sherkin Island, Co. Cork, Ireland.Tel. 028–20187 Fax: 028–20407 Email: [email protected]

ISBN: 1-87-049296-X

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Juni

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Juni

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The Puffin is one our most colourful seabirds with its hugemulticoloured bill giving it a clown-like appearance. Like other membersof the Auk family (Razorbills and Guillemots) it is black above and whitebelow. However, its distinctive bill quickly separates it from other auks,even when seen at a distance. Puffins use their colourful bills during theirelaborate courtship displays and can sometimes be seen on the cliff topsbowing and shaking their bills at each other.

Unlike other auks which nest on cliff ledges, Puffins prefer to nestunderground, usually in a disused rabbit burrow. Because of this Puffinscan usually be seen on the grassy slopes on the cliff tops, where there arefrequently many rabbit burrows, and not lower down on the cliff faces.Thesingle egg is incubated by both parents for 40 days and the chick remainsin the burrow for a further 40 days until it flies down to the sea and learnsto fend for itself. The adult Puffins can be seen throughout the breedingseason bringing fish to their young in the burrows. They can carry severalfish at the one time in their large bills and feed mainly on sand-eels, spratsand young herring.

Puffins can be seen on many of our offshore islands such as Great Salteeand The Skelligs. They can also be seen quite well on the Cliffs of Moher.

The Gannet is our largest and most impressive seabirdwith a massive six foot wingspan.They are striking birds witha pure white body and jet black wingtips. During the breed-ing season they develop a light buff colour on their heads.They have long dagger like bills which are off-white in colour.

Their method of feeding is equally impressive – scanningthe sea below them for fish, they will suddenly fold theirwings and plunge like an arrow into the sea. They often dothis from a height of up to 30 metres. By plunging from suchheights they are able to catch fish at a depth of several

metres. To protect them from the shock of the impact their foreheads are specially reinforced with bone while their daggerlike bill helps to streamline their bodies so as to lessen the shock. They feed chiefly on Herring and Mackerel and also spratand sand-eel.

Gannets like to nest in large colonies called Gannetries. Some of these can be enormous – the Gannetry on the Skelligs offCo. Kerry is estimated to have almost 30,000 pairs of Gannets. It is amongst the top five most important Gannetries in theworld. On Great Saltee off Co.Wexford you can get quite close to the Gannets and watch them as they go about their businessof raising their broods.

Gannets build a substantial nest consisting mostly of seaweed and often adorned with bits of ‘rubbish’ such as plastic, ropeand whatever else they find floating in the sea around the colony. They lay a single egg which they incubate for 44 days. Bothparents take turns to incubate the egg under their webbed feet. The chick leaves the nest after 90 days whereupon it learnsto fish for itself.


Learn aabout bbirds wwithBirdWatch IIrelandMigration LeafletLearn about the important phenomena of migration – themovement of birds between different areas, at differentseasons, in order to increase their chances of survival. Itexplains why birds migrate, when they migrate, which birdsand routes taken.:

Download this leaflet from the Learn about Birds sectionon BirdWatch Irelands website at www.birdwatchireland.ie

Learn how to identify the birds in your garden with our Free Garden Bird Charts. Send a SAE to: BirdWatchIreland, Rockingham House, Newcastle, Co. Wicklow.

BirdWatch Ireland has over 10,000 members and has branchesthroughout the country which organise events and outings in yourarea. Why not get your school to join? Write to us or visit our web-site for details: www.birdwatchireland.ie

BirdWatch Ireland has two educational web sites, catering forlearning about birds in schools.

0 Visit the Migration web site to learn about thefascination of bird migration

0 Visit the Working with Birds web site to learn aboutwatching and feeding birds

Simply go to www.birdwatchireland.ie and go to the ‘learn aboutbirds’ section

BirdWatch Ireland, Rockingham House, Newcastle, Co. Wicklow.Tel: 01-2819878 Fax: 01-2819763 Email:[email protected]

Website: www.birdwatchireland.ie

The Puffin

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The Gannet

By Declan MurphyIRELAND is very fortunate in having a long and varied

coastline, which combined with the rich feeding grounds ofour inshore waters provide for a variety of seabirds to breedand rear their young. The waters around Ireland are fed bythe warm Atlantic Gulf Stream which brings nutrients acrossthe Atlantic and these provide the building blocks for a com-plex food chain upon which our seabirds feed.

One of the highlights of any birdwatchers year is a visit toone of the many seabird colonies around the coast. Some ofthe offshore colonies are easily accessible by ferry such asSkellig Michael off Co. Kerry, Great Saltee off Co.Wexford andIrelands Eye off Co. Dublin. Other colonies such as the Cliffsof Moher in Co. Clare are easily viewed from the mainland.

The noise (and smell!) at these colonies is often amazing,with many thousands of birds all nesting within a few feet ofeach other. The first birds seen will most likely be Gulls espe-cially the Kittewake, which nest in large colonies on cliffledges. These are amongst the most vocal of our seabirdsand their name comes from the sound of their calls – Kit-i-wake! Other Gulls such as Herring and Great Black Backedcan be seen patrolling the cliffs ready to snatch anunguarded egg or chick. Cormorants and Shags can be seenalong the lower reaches of thecliffs while literally thousands ofGuillemots and Razorbills will becrammed along the cliff ledges.

Bird QuizWhere do Puffins make their nests?

The first five correct answers drawn will eachreceive a copy of ‘The Usborne Spotter’s Guideto Birds’ Answers on a postcard to ‘SherkinComment’, Sherkin Island Marine Station,Sherkin Island, Co. Cork.

SEABIRDS


10

13

16

19

22 24

8

34

14

11

28

31

7

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26

2120

17

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15

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27

35

3029

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32

Snappy Puzzle1Here you have a chance to make

your own jigsaw! You can cut outthe pieces (make sure you havepermission to use the scissors) andplace each piece in its proper box.

If you don’t want to cut out thepieces then you could place theappropriate piece number in itsbox. The first number is in placeto start you off.

Or if you feel like being creativedraw the picture into the boxsquare by square and then colourit in! Answers on page ??

Edible CrabCancer pagurus

Portán dearg

THE edible crab is one of the largest crabs found around ourcoast. It's shell with a pie-crust edge and black tipped pincersmake it easy to recognise. Its two pincers are very powerful butthe creature often pretends to be dead to avoid being captured.There are 8 legs used for walking, which have hairs on them.Some edible crabs have been known to live over 20 years.Colour: Reddish brown with black tipped pincers.Size: Usually up to 15cm but can reach sizes of over 25cm.Habitat: In rocky cracks and crevices and mud from the lowershore to deep waters.Diet: Other crabs, fish, shrimps and starfish.

Sket

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Aud

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NNAATTUURREEAACCTTIIVVIITTIIEESS

“Where does the water in lakes and rivers come from?”“How strong are ants?” “Do fallen trees serve a purpose?”

THESE are some of the questions that you might expect to hear in a classroom orduring a trip through a forest. Instead of answering them directly, the handbook ADay of Adventure in the Forest – Environmental Activities for Protected Areasoffers suggestions for activities to develop guided excursions into forests, pro-tected areas and other natural spaces, and encourages participants to discover theanswers for themselves by experiencing nature using all their senses.

The handbook is designed to support and promote new and creative activitiesrelated to environmental education within the protected areas of Panama, CentralAmerica. Though it presents various alternatives and suggestions for guided excur-sions within Panama’s forests, these can be easily adapted for many differentsituations.

The handbook has the following objectives:❑ To share values❑ To generate happiness about and interest in the forest❑ To promote admiration for the forest❑ To broaden consciousness and awareness about life❑ To encourage relationships with the friends of the forest❑ To pass on knowledge about forest ecology❑ To create a desire to get to know the forest❑ To promote behavioural changes❑ To highlight the job of nature guide❑ To present forest sustainability as a model

On the right is an activity adapted for the environment in a rockpool...The handbook is available, free of charge plus postage & packing from IUCN Publications –

www.iucn.org/bookstore ISBN: 9962-8806-0-2

EVERYONE DEPENDS ONONE ANOTHER

Contents: To experience theinterdependence of all livingthings in the rockpool.Objective: to recognise thatliving organisms are interrelatedand depend on each other.Type of activity: thoughtfulNo. of participants: maximum 20 peopleAge: 7 years and olderTime limit: minimum 15 minutesMaterials: postcards of animalsand plants. Cord or wool stringPreparation: not applicableWeather conditions: not applicable

DEVELOPMENT:❑ Distribute the postcards of marine animals or plants.❑ Everyone forms a circle and each person assumes the role of the animal/plant shown

on his postcard.❑ The guide, who should act as the rockpool, using the corresponding postcard, joins the

circle with a ball of woollen string in hand, and begins with a question, “Who providesshelter under which animals live?” You, as the rockpool, hold one end of the string inone hand and throw the rest to the person who acts as the seaweed.

❑ Now it is a question of finding out who lives under the seaweed. It could be the blenny,and the string is thrown to that person. The string continues and continues until allthe animals are united by the string and have formed a web.

❑ Each time an animal or plant is added to the web that has formed, the string is lifted.Similarly, when a species has been eaten, that person must stoop. This demonstrateswhich animals are interconnected and also which animals eat how many other animalsand what kind. For example, if the dogwhelk eats barnacles, the barnacle populationdecreases; and when there are few barnacles, the dogwhelk population decreases andthe number of barnacles increases because they are not being eaten by the dogwhelk.

SUGGESTIONS AND POSSIBILITIES FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT:❑ Obviously, the game can be played using other species of flora and fauna such as

micro-organisms living in the soil.❑ The guide must imagine the web before beginning the game in order to guarantee the

logical sequence.❑ If there is a species that could cease to exist in the rockpool, such as the seaweed

that provides shelter and food, the player lets go of the string and the web disinte-grates.

❑ What happens if the rockpool dries out?❑ This activity is ideal as a follow-up after an excursion to the seaside.❑ The interdependences are not limited to ‘eat or be eaten’. The game can be played tak-

ing into account other aspects such as:•• The habitat: the hermit crab living in the empty dogwhelk shell.•• Parasitism: barnacles living on limpet shells; sponge living on the backs of crabs.•• Other relationships: periwinkles preserving themselves from water loss by closing

up; seaweeds that can withstand drying out.

EXAMPLE OF INTERDEPENDENCE IN A ROCKPOOL (for a group of eleven people):Postcards/drawings needed: rockpool, seaweed, blenny, crab, plankton, mussels, starfish, barnacles,dogwhelk, hermit crab, limpet.

ROCKPOOL ➦➦

➥ Seaweed: Seaweed grows in rockpool providing shelter and food for animals.➥ Blenny: Blenny lives under seaweed.➥ Crab: Crab eats blenny.➥ Plankton: Crab produces babies which is part of plankton in the water. ➥ Mussel: Mussel feed on plankton.➥ Starfish: Starfish eats mussel.➥ Crab: Crab attacks starfish and eats arm.➥ Starfish: Starfish arm sends particles into water.➥ Barnacles: Barnacles eat particles.➥ Dogwhelk: Dogwhelks eats barnacles.➥ Hermit Crab: Empty dogwhelk shell provides home for hermit crab.➥ Crab: Hermit crab kills small crab.➥ Blenny: Blenny fishes on crab meat.➥ Barnacles: Barnacles filter feed on blenny’s eggs.➥ Limpet: Barnacles settle on limpets.➥ Seaweed: Limpets lives on large seaweed.

This is a very limited example of some of the interdependence that exists in a rockpool.There are many other plants and animals playing an active role in the life of the rockpool.Think of other animals, plants or aspects that can be taken into account.

Sketch: “A Day of Adventure in the Forest”

Eli Lilly S.A. – Irish BranchPharmaceutical Manufacturers

Eli Lilly wishes “Sherkin Comment”continued success.

Answers That Matter

Eli Lilly S.A. – Irish BranchDunderrow,

Kinsale,Co. Cork

Telephone: 021–4772699Fax: 021–4775152

Email: [email protected]: www.lilly.ie

Remarks by President MaryMcAleese at the Presentation ofthe Gold President’s Awards –Gaisce, Dublin Castle. Tuesday,22nd February 2005.

Dia dhíbh go léir tráthnóna. Tá mé iontachsásta bheith anseo libh ar an ócáid speisialtaseo agus ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a churin iúl díbh as an fáilte fíorchaoin.

It is good to be here with you all thisafternoon at what is a double celebration –the presentation of Gold Awards to well-deserving young women and men and also thetwentieth year of the Gaisce awards. Lastyear the awards attracted a record elevenand a half thousand young people and thisyear we hope that record will be matchedand, better still, beaten.

I can think of few if any of my functions asPresident that give me as much pleasure aslearning about the experiences of the many,many young people who undertake either aGold, Silver or Bronze Gaisce challenge. Thatchallenge involves a journey of self-discov-ery, a journey which reveals so much aboutyourself to yourself and others. I think you'llagree that Brendan Kennelly put it well whenhe presented Silver Gaisce Awards a fewyears ago. He said that 'you are not compar-ing yourself with anyone; you are notcompeting with anyone; what you are actuallydoing is creating yourself.'

Gaisce, the President's Award, is the bestof pursuits for young people who seek adven-ture that is matched with a wish tocontribute something to society. The youngpeople in this room, you the award recipients,have set for yourselves demanding chal-lenges, tough tests that have stretched youto your emotional, intellectual and physicallimits and you haven't just scraped a pass inthose tests, you have done so with flyingcolours. No-one can now doubt that you havethose most important of skills to take youthrough life – perseverance, self-discipline,leadership ability and, most importantly, car-ing skills. These are things that no-one elsecan give you nor can money buy. But they arehugely important gifts for a decent civicsociety. A decent society does not happen byaccident. People have to make it happen andkeep on making it happen day in and day out.The more people committing to these awards,the better the future we all have to look for-ward to. You have challenged yourselves toachieve personal excellence. You have chal-lenged yourselves physically and mentally.But you have also challenged yourselves tocontribute in turn to the betterment of thecommunity.

Gathered here are people who haveengaged in some wonderful pursuits – oneworked as a volunteer for more than a yearwith the Alzheimer Society of Ireland;another set up a folk group in Cashel andthen undertook a 90km expedition in France;another helped in a Romanian orphanage andthen went to India as a lay missioner. Oneyoung man cycled through the Pyrenees toraise funds for the National Council for theBlind of Ireland, another who holds anotherGold – that one in the World SpecialOlympics – hiked 80km from Killarney toBantry and raised thousands for charity inthe process. And there are many, many morestories that have lifted my heart and makeme feel privileged to be amongst such a finegroup of young people – not one of who was

under any compulsion to undertake the Pres-ident's Award but who volunteeredthemselves to be tried and tested.

You are part of a long established vibrantspirit of adventure and discovery amongstthe people of Ireland. Our history is full ofinspiring people – some more famous thanothers. One lesser recounted story and afavourite of mine is about the Old Countessof Desmond, who is reported to have trav-elled to London in 1604 at the age of 140,pushing her ninety-year-old daughter in acart, to petition James I for the return ofher home. Now there's perseverance! Or thefeat of the young Ulster princes, O'Neill andO'Donnell, escaping from this very Castle inthe depths of a vicious winter. The spirit ofTom Crean and Ernest Shackleton, too, liveson, encouraging a new generation to goals ofphysical effort and mental stamina.

From those and so many other inspirationalachievements through the past, new genera-tions of young people have learned thecomplementary lessons of self-reliance andco-operation. The ability to plan and executea task requires enterprise and imagination. Italso demands the flexibility to respond to achallenge while recognising the needs andstrengths of others. Leadership and themoral fibre to take decisions and accept theconsequences are the products of reflectionon personal performance, acceptance of fail-ings, learning about and building on ourstrengths.

It is often said that you should test yourfriends before you need them. The youngmen and women in this room have, without

any compulsion, submitted themselves to thetoughest of tests. They have triumphed andtheir investment in the President's Awardshas been a huge investment in tomorrow'sIreland. These are the backbone of family,community, workplace, society – young peoplewho are transcending life's ups and downswith a spirit of "can do".

Today these 67 admirable young men andwomen, each with an utterly unique story totell, will receive the highest accolade thiscountry offers to any citizen – the Presi-dent's Gold Award. When you wear the pin,when you write of it on your CVs, others willknow the calibre of person they are dealingwith – for you went out and deliberatelysought life's challenges before they trippedyou up – you made yourselves uncomfortable,

set yourselves deadlines, pushed yourselvesto the limit. You earned the right to be here.

Gaisce would not have reached its veryhigh standards without a huge support struc-ture which embraces sponsors, fundraisers,schools, families, employers, the remarkablePresident's Award Leaders, teachers, youthleaders, Gardai and designated persons inthird-level colleges and centres like ActivityIreland. I would like to thank them andeveryone who has helped to make this greatadventure possible for so many.

The President's Award is very much ateam effort but particular thanks are due toNed Sullivan, Chairman of the Awards, theCouncil, and the Award Staff team so ablyled by John Murphy. We all owe a particulardebt to Paschal Taggart who has been instru-mental in supporting the development of theaward in Northern Ireland.

Looking at the enthusiasm and dedicationof this year's Gold Award recipients beforeme, it is fair to say that the generosity andfaith demonstrated by everyone associatedwith the Awards has been truly repaid. Thefuture is in good hands. We are incrediblyproud of you and full of faith in you.

Comhghairdeas libh arís inniu. Go raibhmíle maith agaibh go léir.

For further information about the awards contactMr. John Murphy, Chief Executive, The President’s Award – Gaisce, Dublin Castle,Dublin 2. Tel: 01–[email protected] or Website: www.p-award.net

Page 30 ..................................................................................................................................................................Sherkin Comment 2005 – Issue No. 39

Gold President Awards 2005

Damien O’Donovan from Bantry, Co. Cork, with hisPAL, Robert Shannon receiving his Award fromPresident McAleese.

Lt. Andrew Shinnick from Fermoy, Co. Cork,receiving his Award from President McAleese.

John Murray from Ballinhassig, Co. Cork, receivinghis Award from President McAleese.

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SOLE

BENEDICTINE

A dish for special times, sophisticated butsimple.

INGREDIENTS

• 8 medium fillets lemon sole• 55g/2ozs hazelnuts• 55g/2ozs butter• 2 tablespoons Benedictine or liqueur/liquor of choice• 2 tablespoons lemon juice• 2 tablespoons dill or herb of choice• Salt and freshly milled pepper

METHOD

• Roast hazelnuts in pan – remove.• Melt butter, add liqueur/liquor, lemon juice, seasoning and

herbs.• Add fish and hazelnuts, cover and cook for 8–10 minutes.• Spoon juices gently over fish occasionally and serve with

sprinkling of dill.* You can substitute plaice, brill, megrim, black sole.

Serves 4.

Join Storm Force the RNLI’s club for young people, and you will be sent an exciting

members’ pack filled with lots of goodies. Four times a year you willreceive the action packed Storm Force News magazine full of exciting

stories, paintings, ideas or jokes from Storm Force headquarters.

To join just send your name and address, with a cheque/P.O. for €7.50 to:Storm Force HQ, RNLI, 15 Windsor Terrace, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

Tel: (01) 2845050 Fax: (01) 2845052 Email: [email protected] Web:www.rnli.org.uk

Rep

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Sto

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BIM


By MichaelLudwig

DO you believe statementsmade by scientists? A growingnumber of people no longertrust scientific results. Appar-ently scientific credibility is introuble and it is getting worse.This problem seems to berelated to expectation and the

certainty of uncertainty. Fromthe early part of the twentiethcentury science has been mov-ing from absolute certainty, toprobable certainty, to relativecertainty in an effort to bemore accurate. At the sametime, the need to have answerssupported by absolute cer-tainty has risen, dramatically.Error is unacceptable. This sit-uation has created problemsfor everyone looking for

“answers” to environmentalissues. For instance, the argu-ment over whether globalwarming is occurring rages onin the halls of governmenteven as climate and naturalresources are adapting to thechanges. The majority of thescientific community hasmoved on to determining howdramatic the changes will be,rather than trying to convincethose demanding or using the

lack of absolute certainty. In recent years the under-

standing of what “science” isand does seems more andmore lost on more and morepeople. To many people, any-thing but absolute certainty isinaccuracy and unacceptablein decision making. Becausescience usually cannot provideanswers with absolute cer-tainty, it seems to be failing us.But, perhaps we ask too muchof it? Accurately predictingnatural events is difficult.Consider weather prediction –how often have you looked outthe window to see somethingdifferent than was predicted?When assessing environmen-tal situations, recognising the

variability of the natural worldis an important component ofthe process. No matter howhard we try to eliminate uncer-tainty, it remains a part of

virtually every statement anddecision dealing with naturalevents. Characterising uncer-tainty with probability ofcertainty or relative certaintysimply recognises that thereare occasions when inaccuracyoccurs, not that the fact isincorrect. Curiously, recogni-tion that inaccuracy exists isoften used as “proof” thatexisting conclusions are“wrong” and, by inference,science is undependable.Whether talking about theimpact of human activities, orthe likelihood that Floridawould be hit by four hurri-canes in a single summer,natural variability limits cer-tainty but it shouldn’t obstructreasonable actions. Inciden-tally, real estate values inFlorida are increasing.

Unfortunately, the lack ofabsolute certainty has becomesuch a concern that some deci-sions are being postponed orburdened with restrictionswhich neither improve under-standing nor resolve issues.This becomes a problem whenthe concern focuses on theuncertainty rather than cer-tainty aspects of a situation.During a dredging projectsomewhere between 2 and 5percent of the sediment beingmoved cannot be accountedfor. Should the project bestopped because it “lost” thatmaterial or should we considerthe implications of the loss butfocus on the 95 to 98 percentthat can be tracked? The ques-tion becomes morecomplicated if the sediment ispolluted.

The application of scientificmethods can address uncer-tainty by providing theprobability that an unexpectedoutcome will occur. Weatherforecasters rely on probabilitywhen they report “there is a 20percent chance of snow.” Giv-ing us the probability of anevent not an absolute certaintylessens expectation. For rela-tive certainty, the amount ofvariation is used to describethe outcome. Doing 50 flipsof a coin might get 27 headsand 23 tails. That is close tothe expected result but there isa 4 percent error (54 % are

heads and 46 % are tails).With that error, should we dis-card the general hypothesisthat the results are equallylikely to be heads or tails?And, by focusing on the 4 per-cent discrepancy, has the focusbeen shifted from the 96 per-cent accuracy?

An interesting example ofthe problems created by focus-ing on the uncertainty anderror is a power cable underLong Island Sound that con-nects Long Island andConnecticut. One of the con-cerns was that northern lobster(Homarus americanus) wouldbe confused by the electro-magnetic field (EMF) createdby the direct current passingthrough the wires. EMFs rep-resent one of the mostcommon and fastest growingenvironmental influences,about which anxiety and spec-ulation are spreading.Northern lobsters are one ofthe species that use variationsin the earth’s magnetic fieldsto navigate around their habi-tat and might be influenced byunnatural EMF emissions.The opponents to the cableargued that the cable’s EMFwould interfere with lobstermigration and cause them towalk back and forth along thecable. EMF experts werebrought in but because of nat-ural variability, they could notstate, unequivocally that “nonorthern lobster would beaffected” only that it washighly unlikely. Althoughresearch has shown that EMFsa thousand times stronger thatthose generated by the cablehad no impact, natural vari-ability precluded absolutecertainty. The lack of one hun-dred percent certainty wasused to argue that the availablescience was wrong or at bestincomplete and a problemexisted. You’ll be happy (?) tolearn that three years of moni-toring has revealed that cableinduced EMF do not appear tocause northern lobsters to con-gregate over one. Is the issueaddressed? Probably notbecause there are a lot of dif-ferent voltage cables andlobsters out there. Whoknows, maybe there are someindividuals that like walkingnear cables.

This is the best of times andthe worst of times: both thepower and corruption of sci-ence are presented daily for ourconsumption. This is not new:in 1883, with tongue firmly incheek, Mark Twain wrote inLife on the Mississippi (p.120):“There is something fascinat-ing about science. One getssuch wholesale returns of con-jecture out of such a triflinginvestment of fact.”

Michael Ludwig, NOAA,NMFS, 212 Rogers Ave.,Milford, CT USA 06460-6499

Trusting Science“No matter howhard we try toeliminateuncertainty, itremains a part ofvirtually everystatement anddecision dealingwith naturalevents.”

Harvesting the Sea’s Renewable Resources

Generating investment, employment

and market opportunities in the fishing

and aquaculture industry

An Bórd Iascaigh Mhara, The Irish Sea Fisheries Board,

Crofton Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Tel 01 284 1544. Fax 01 284 1123.

Email [email protected] Website www.bim.ie

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