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IRISH CURLEW SITES need to be protected from developments such as peat extraction, afforestation and intensification in order to protect the bird species “on the brink of extinction”, conservationists have warned.
The Curlew Task Force published their recommendations today, calling for further research and the development of a species action plan aimed at rescuing the bird.
The task force was set up in 2017 to address the significant decline in the native breeding population of the Curlew - a 96% loss since the late 1980s.
The current Curlew breeding population stands at just 138 pairs.
Independent Chair of the task force, Alan Lauder said the Curlew population is in danger of disappearing in just 10 years.
“Considering we had some many thousands back, maybe 20 years ago, we would have been considered one of the strongholds for Curlew in Europe at that time. Now we’re very much on the brink of extinction – without action we could see single figures in ten years,” Lauder told Morning Ireland.
BirdWatch Ireland welcomed today’s recommendations but warned that without a significant increase in spending on protection measures for the Curlew, the species will remain at serious risk of extinction in Ireland.
“Ireland is only the second country in the world to have declared a climate and biodiversity emergency, but due to the species’ rapid and widespread decline, we are also in danger of becoming the first EU country to lose the Curlew to extinction,” Dr Anita Donaghy, assistant head of conservation with BirdWatch Ireland, said.
In the interim, there has been some positive action from the Government, and this is welcome; however, significantly more funding is required if we are to have any hope of saving this iconic species from extinction.
Donaghy added that recognition must be given to the importance of protecting areas with nesting Curlews from afforestation and other damaging land-use changes, “as well as supporting farmers who maintain high nature value farmland, such as the places where Curlews breed”.
Commenting on the task force’s recommendations the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan said some of the recommendations “are well advanced, while others will require further discussion and consideration across Government”.
“These recommendations provide a blueprint for future policy in relation to the Curlew in Ireland,” Madigan said.
The Department’s National Parks and Wildlife Service is now calling on the public to help with the Curlew conservation programme.
While at present we have Curlew visiting our shores to spend the autumn and winter with us, the National Parks & Wildlife Service are asking for the public to let them know about any Curlew sightings they may have had over the summer months, especially in May, June and July.
“Knowing where Curlew breed allows the NPWS to work with landowners to help Curlew rear their young and it is hoped that more pairs can be found in 2020,” Dr Barry O’Donoghue of the NPWS, who leads the conservation programme, said.
The public can contact the NPWS by emailing Agri.Ecology@chg.gov.ie and or on 076-100-2611.
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We are currently in the middle of a mass extinction, with 200 species a day going extinct. This is not something that is reversible. We only have one home.
@Paraic: “We are currently in the middle of a mass extinction”- are you for real sir?
@Paraic:
Name the 200 that went extinct this very day please.
@Paraic: 200 species a day going extinct??? So in your estimation there is 73,000 species going extinct every year???? I need to get a bud of what you’re smokin pal
@Mike Conway: Yes. For real.
@➕The Gray➕: https://www.earthday.org/2018/05/18/fact-sheet-global-species-decline/
Nobody is going to agree on the numbers. But hard to disagree with the global crisis in terms of habitat loss and subsequent loss of species.
@STOIC SAVAGE: Not in my estimation. Estimation of biologists. Why do you trolls assume that unless I’m keeping a personal list, it’s not happening? That’s some twisted logic right there.
Google is your friend. Do some homework for yourselves. Hopefully trolls will be on the list soon.
@Paraic: wildlife is down 60% of what it was in 1970s.
@Paraic: denial is feasted upon by the scared. If they can’t see it in front of them, it’s not happening. Their reality is an easier one to live in. Makes them feel less bad about living a throwaway lifestyle.
@Paraic: if it wasn’t for mass extinctions you probably would be here. It’s called evolution
@Kieran Stafford: I take it that you’re not a biologist? When you become extinct, you cease to evolve. The current rate of extinction is 1,000 times the natural rate. This is not nature at work, it’s the destruction of nature by man. Hence “Anthropogenic Extinction”.
@Paraic: its 200 per year you pleb.
@Paraic: When I was going to school 40 years ago the fields of the marshland were full of Curlews. All those fields are now housing estates and not a Curlew in sight.
@Ian Breathnach: No it’s per day. Maybe do some homework before you resort to name calling. Here’s a starting point. https://tinyurl.com/y2goqpzm
@Ian Breathnach: 200 a day is only incorrect in it’s certainty. The fact that you went for the lowest estimate is interesting though, it is estimated to be between 200 and 100’000 per year, or between .54 a day and 273.97 a day. The species loss we’re seeing at the moment is between 1’000 and 10’000 times higher than the natural extinction rate. Just like climate change is natural so is extinction, it’s the rate of change/extinction that is worrying. I’ll refrain from calling you a pleb because that would be childish of me but I will leave a link for you to have a read of. http://wwf.panda.org/our_work/biodiversity/biodiversity/
@➕The Gray➕: Don’t tell me ur in denial like that oranged headed bloke from across the water..
@➕The Gray➕: You don’t really know how statistics work do you? It’s like saying it’s estimated 200 leaves blew off trees in a particular forest today and you saying, point out which exact leaves blew off today.
@Paraic: i take it you’re not an intelligent man. Death makes a path for new life and not necessarily life as we know. Don’t be so narcissistic as to think we are so important and take the blinkers off and try and visualize the scale of the whole thing
@Kieran Stafford: You take it wrong. I became a member of Mensa (the high IQ Society) in October 1992 and still am (it’s for life). Death is the end of life nothing more. But extinction is the end of the species and therefore the end of both life and death. We are not important to Gaia. She will snuff us out just like the 200 species she terminates each day. Only then can she recover. We are like cancer. If you think that humans going extinct is not a probability, then you are the self important narcissist, with delusions of grandeur.
@Kieran Stafford: dead right…….. The message is in the text.
@Paraic: you sound like the one with delusions of grandeur. Throwing out your accomplishments does not impress me. You just repeated what i said. When we are long gone and probably 95% of life on earth new life will emerge. It’s happened numerous times. But i don’t really want to debate with you anymore. You sound like a pompous idiot so I’m going to evolve beyond you. So enjoy telling everyone you meet about your membership in mensa. Bye
@Kieran Stafford: Evolve beyond him? Mhm sure that’s how evolution works.
@Diarmuid Hunt: metaphorically speaking
@Kieran Stafford: I know, don’t worry. Still though I think it would be ridiculous for a sentient species to knowingly just accept extinction rather than try to stave it off. The reason we have dominated the world and ecosystem is because of our ability to reason, communicate complicated ideas, work together as a social species and plan for the future. What you’re saying is akin to saying we shouldn’t bother trying to save anyone that gets sick because look everyone dies eventually.
@Diarmuid Hunt: no I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying the earths ecosystem will change and we cannot adapt so it’s inevitable most life will be wiped out. Only bacteria and tardigrades and the likes will carry on. They are the true survivors and adaptors. But it’s in our nature to survive. That’s how we got so far so hopefully space travel will be a way to survive and carry on the species. But that’s a long way off so we’ll not worry about it on a Saturday
@Kieran Stafford: We have actually slowed down our adaptation abilities, or thrown them of course. We are ot masters of adapting ourselves but out of the animal kingdom we are the best at adapting our environment to suit our needs. I think tardigrades will be around much longer, but as long as the species we rely on for food (pollinators and plants mainly) don’t die out too quickly we I think out of the animal kingdom we’ll survive for a fairly long time. Basically once we’re not the masters of our own demise we should be good for a decent amount of time. I’m not worrying, but I do enjoy a good discussion of a Saturday (or any other day).
@Kieran Stafford: Also apologies for my misunderstanding.
It’s important to clarify that this number represents breeding curlews. We have huge populations of them each year, but they are only overwintering.
@Doz: they are not the irish curlews they are another breed known as whimbrels.
@Brian Connaughton: Are blow-in curlews welcome here?
@Garreth Byrne: not those direct provision curlews. They’re all spongers apparently.
Declaration of a climate emergency? Give me a break. A completely meaningless exercise in virtue signalling to make Varadkar look good internationally
@De20: oh will you lot f**k off already. I’m not even a FG voter, the climate crisis goes far beyond party politics or individuals in those parties. Climate change has been highlighted as an enormous problem by countless scientists and in peer reviewed research – educate yourself on the facts and wake up.
@De20: ya ma,what you at fup off.and troll somewhere else…
@De20: look at what leo has done,no more oil exploration, we havent found enough oil here to fill a 3 and 1 can,big deal
@De20: yes, because climate scientists and wildlife experts in China, Brazil, Australia, India and Canada care about Leo Varadkar’s appeal on the world stage…
@Brian Ó Dálaigh: I don’t know what his intention was but the fact is actions speak louder than words. When we see some serious action then we can say it isn’t virtue signalling. He never said that there isn’t a climate emergency, only that the declaration is virtue signalling.
Ask south dublin county council, they’re very good at preservation on endangered species
@Pete Crosbie: “May as well cover the mudflats with concrete so” will be the reply
I can only identify a few birds like robins, sparrows &crows etc but I can spot a curlew thanks to a school trip to Bull island when I was a nipper. I remember the guy in the visitor centre letting us look through a telescope at curlews in the mud ,if I remember right they twist their heads or the beak when they eat. we were all messing like mad but at least something sank in!
I seen about 20 yesterday in Galway Clare border yesterday
@Thomaspuck Byrne: beside 30 corncrakes?
nothing to do with climate change but I’d say the following are getting v.scarce….foxes, badgers, otters, fish in our rivers, rabbits and hares, cuckoo, corncrake etc
@Aire Dezamba: Ground nesting bird devastated by move to silage production.
@Gavin Tobin: and you actually get compensated for reporting them in your field. Shame.
@Gavin Tobin: Wrong my lad. Mink are the problem mostly released back into the wild by so-called animal rights activists. they are a ferocious predatory non-native species with no natural predators in this country. They have wiped out water hens, most of the mallard population snipe.land-rail and played a big role in the decimation of the corncrake.They have also massively reduced the fish in our rivers
@John Mc Donagh:
I call complete BS on that. I would be very surprised that its not just us in 99% of the cases. I have never seen a mink in my life. That is only a rural myth passed around by livestock farmers.
@Tim Pot: The problem is, you rarely see them they are very elusive. I don’t see too many of them either but I can see plenty of evidence that they are there!
Working in a quarry in cork think there’s a load of them there seriously,in a drying out lake
Any walk around bull island and dollymount strand I’ve taken in the past year I’ve seen at least 5 each walk. Might be the same five all the time mind you
Leo didn’t say “no more oil prospecting”- he said no “new licences”. The companies with licences will be allowed to continue.
He is also allowing processing of fracked gas from the US.
WTF are we doing to our planet. We are all guilty of murdering our world.
Our Government and in particular the department of the environment doesn’t give a hoot unless there is money to be made out of it.
The curlew is close to extinction and so will our native irish hare be if irresponsible coursing clubs have their way. All capture of hares for coursing is suspended right now owing to confirmed outbreaks of rhd2, a disease that kills hares and rabbits and is highly contagious. But coursing clubs, despite knowing that the irish hare species could be wiped out,, are lobbying politicians to restore their “right” to snatch hares from our countryside for their live baiting sessions. I wish I could say I trust the politicians to put the survival of the endangered hare before the interests of the gambling and greyhound industries, but experience tells me otherwise. We need to maintain pressure on those who govern us to ensure that what remains of our wildlife heritage does not go the way of the dodo!
Is there different types of curlew or birds very similar to them? I often see loads of birds I thought were curlew in the early morning. Or is it a case that only 396 of them are getting the ride?
Journals readers will be on verge of extinction if they keep up with is shite
There’s too many of us to be made extinct over a short period of time but that’s not to say that our numbers are not about to be whittled down to where they were in the middle ages. After that, extinction might be deferred by human population control. The problem with all viruses is that they consider themselves superior to the ‘other’ life forms that they exploit.
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