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Author Topic: Bacteria clean up blackened aftermath of Mourne blazes  (Read 2531 times)

admin

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Bacteria clean up blackened aftermath of Mourne blazes
« on: May 30, 2012 »
Quote
Twelve months ago forest and heath fires were burning across Northern Ireland.

Accidental or deliberate, they left a trail of charred devastation in their wake.

Specially protected environmental areas and commercial forests were destroyed.

In a few hours it was the only part of Europe where the tree count actually declined. It already was amongst the lowest.

Retracing the steps I took last year to cover the fires for the BBC, I passed hectares of burnt forest.

Read Further:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18163284

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sjh1

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Re: Bacteria clean up blackened aftermath of Mourne blazes
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2012 »
Please allow me to (once again) go on a short rant...

Fires are dramatic. They get a lot of attention from the media and general public. If they cause damage to life or livelihood that is horrific,

BUT,

I would argue that (over)grazing by sheep and the planting of commercial conifer forest have caused and continue to cause much more damage to our upland environments.

Remember sheep are not native wild animals, they are unnatural grazers put there by humans. They often are present in such high densities that little vegetation can develop (or redevelop) at all. Parts of the Antrim Plateau are like golf courses because of sheep - green deserts! Without sheep there would be thick heather, and a range of shrubs, bushes and trees across many of our mountainsides and these would bring much more attendant wildlife.

The forests that Mike McKimm is gurning about are commercial conifer forests that support very limited birdlife. Ironically the fires might improve wildlife habitat here as, if the sheep are kept out, native broadleaf trees might regenerate in the burnt areas, providing many more opportunities for nesting birds.

P.S. Perhaps I shouldn't blame the sheep per se, it's the humans that put them there that are the problem really.

I will try not to repeat this rant too often!
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What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.

... from 'Inversnaid' by Gerard Manley Hopkins.
 

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