Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
A REPORT PUBLISHED by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs shows that over 100 native Irish plants can be classified as endangered.
A total of 1,211 different plant species, subspecies and hybrids are assessed in the report, ranging from the largest trees to the smallest wild flowers, grasses and ferns.
Of the plants assessed, 106 (or 8.8%) are assigned an IUCN Red List threat category and are Ireland’s “red-listed” plants.
Twenty vascular plants (or 1.7% of those assessed) are critically endangered, 25 (2.1%) are endangered and 61 (5.0%) are vulnerable, the report added.
Extinction
Vascular plants include ferns, clubmosses, horsetails and the whole range of flowering plants from grasses, sedges and rushes to herbaceous wildflowers and woody shrubs and trees.
Red lists are a globally recognised assessment providing information on the degree to which species are under threat and at risk of extinction and, by implication, those for which conservation measures need to be considered.
The assessment is carried out along guidelines developed by the IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Scannell’s Whitebeam (Sorbus scannelliana).Source: Mike Wyse Jackson/DAHG
Native to Ireland
The vascular plants assessed are those that are native to Ireland or were introduced to the island before the year 1500.
These comprise vascular plant species, subspecies and certain hybrids that are recorded from the wild.
Threatened
In addition to the 106 red-listed plants, 15 plants (1.2%) are extinct in Ireland.
Another 98 (8.1%) are considered to be "near threatened", and 887 (73.2%) are of "least concern".
International
Of the vascular plants considered, 18 are endemic, or found only on the island of Ireland, including two types of the whitebeam tree, several hawkweeds, a saxifrage and an orchid.
Ireland is of international importance, because it is home to a quarter of the population for 47 vascular plants, including several orchids, sea-lavenders and ferns.
Read: Kids who spend time in nature are more relaxed - here are 8 tips to get them outdoors
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
If everyone who had a patch of grass left a bit go wild, it might help some of them recover. It’d help the pollinators too.
County councils could let verges go to wildflower meadows too. It happens in the UK; no reason for us not to do it.
@Ross Stewart: Sure with the land mass that Coilte owns and manages something of a greater scale could be arranged. Running Coilte as a just for profit is surely extremely shortsighted.
The timber deserts that they managed surely if were moved to more local oak forestry would offer greater grass areas ?
All for letting my front lawn go wild would love to but the neighbors complain every time and I have tried the line its fi
Ross, out of interest, would it just be a case of leaving the area to overgrow or would you need to do anything in particular, maybe plant certain seeds?
@brian boru: Forest trees block out sunlight, so you won’t see the natural biodiversity until you clear some of the trees.
Emilys, if you leave the area wild, eventually you will get wildflowers and native plants there – maybe nettles, etc at first but the longer you leave it, the more diverse it may become (nettles are important for certain butterflies to survive). Alternatively you could cut the grass down to the soil, dig the sods over and sow wildflower mixes such as these http://www.wildflowers.ie/mixes/wf/wf03.htm
Thanks Ross, I’ve always loved wildflowers but never thought of having them in the garden. Now to convince the neighbours in my well-kept estate that there’s method in my madness!
Even putting up a little sign that reads ‘wildflower reserve-do not cut’ can help remind people that it’s intentional and healthy, not lazy or untidy!
@EmilyS: `Try doing nothing, some seeds have a great ability to survive in the ground for years, the flowers that came up in my venture are nowhere to be seen locally so the land must act as a seed bank
I left 4 acres to do as it wished starting 20 years ago and recorded 42 species of wild flowers in year 2. It is now a thriving mini-forest and 2 old ponds which I dug out quickly came to life with the help of a bucket of mud and silt taken from a nearby sluggish stream which was full of life.
No mention of possible causes?
Strange.
Some of the possible causes are changing agricultural practices, mowing of roadside verges, drainage schemes, overgrazing, housing developments and the expanding numbers of golf courses. Even over picking of these plants is contributing to the decline. The first priority must be the protection of the habitats where they grow.
@Alex Falcone: Causes such as global warming and air & soil pollution have something to do with it.
We have a beautiful old meadow here in Merlin Park Galway that is full of thousands of Orchids each year of different varieties and many wildflowers species , locals use it for walking/running as it is zoned public and recreational land and HSE have decided to sell it off for development by local hospice although there was already 84 acres of land available . In order to buil on it cllrs had to rezone it which majority did , now we have to fight to save something which our cllrs should have seen as valueable as it is quite a rarity in a city and part of an old woodland habitat Merlin Woods .So it is easy to see why plants are in decline… blind politicians who care little about the environment #savethemeadows
And they choose Heather Humphreys to oversee it!!! Unless your initials are IFA your voice won’t be heard.
@3monkey: Heather Humphries from Aghabog, Co. Monaghan
Do i get a grant for not tending to my garden for 5 years?
Long as the Lumper potato’s knocked out of the running. Being highly susceptible to blight it caused the Famine in the same way Irish neutrality during WW2 caused the loss of 300 ships and 5000 men (including my own ancestor)(according to the joint chiefs of staff after the war). In other words a secondary cause. But risk mitigation’s always a good thing provided it don’t involve trading liberty for security. Which the Lumper also did, albeit an illusion of security. A deadly one, as it turned out.
Sorry for digression just bored and ruminating at random. Gpod night.
Would someone who threw a load of budgerigar seeds into the hedges and ditches be deservedly known as Johnny ‘Appy-seed?
have your say