Eoghan Daltun Farming For Nature Ambassador
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2022
- Eoghan Daltun runs a high nature value (HNV) farm and rewilding project on the Beara peninsula of Co. Cork. “The farm is all about productivity of biodiversity and nature. That is the primary aim.” The main block of private land is 21.5 acres, the majority of which is highly species-rich native Atlantic temperate rainforest. “The native woodland is incredibly species rich, this part of Ireland is recognized by biologists as a ‘biodiversity hotspot’ in terms of bryophytes (mosses and liverworts)”. The woodland consists of old sessile oaks and range of other wild native tree species. The understory is equally as species-rich and diverse, consisting of a vast array of wildflowers, ferns, mosses, lichen and fungi. The farm is home to an array of wildlife, including some rare species like the Lesser Horseshoe Bat, the Marsh Fritillary Butterfly and the Kerry Slug. The next block of land is a mix of native woodland and species-rich grassland. The final block of land is commonage. Previously a sheep farmer, Eoghan has recently replaced his flock of sheep with a small herd of Dexter cattle. He believes the cattle, as they are non-selective grazers, are better suited to his HNV farming practice and to the regeneration of the land. The plan is to graze the cattle on the commonage during the summer months and then bring them back to the lower lands during the winter - emulating the very old practice of ‘booleying’ which involved moving animals to the uplands during the summer season. Eoghan has been a Farming For Nature Ambassador since October 2021.
Fair play to you Eoghan, your doing amazing work. 👍
Looks wonderful Eoghan. Well done. It's a beautiful part of the world.
Place looks magic well done
Looks fantastic Eoghan, lots of things would change for the better if we all tried this even on a small scale
looks like a fine area for an ambush
Bandit country
@@RGK147 good oul
Looking forward to your reading new book in September !!
About 30 years ago I planted birch and a few other trees on a third of an acre in Wexford, in the context of an acre urban garden that had quite a few other trees. The area that I planted went from basically field to forest fairly rapidly, and last time I was there, I found self-seeded ferns, orchids of some sort (of the more plain variety), mosses, and some fungi. Also self-sown oaks and rowan. The rest of the garden had gone to jungle (bramble thickets and whatnot), and it took a load of hacking things back to open some air back in around the house. While this isnt exactly what you are doing, the principle is the same. Give things a chance, and they will form an ecosystem. I'm not a purist - I have a drift of snowdrops in the forest, split and resplit by me, and wild daffodils, And I scatter things like foxglove and mullein seed. I'm not hoping to rebuild exactly what was there after the last ice age, but to provide habitat for birds, hedgehogs, foxes etc. I put in some nestboxes, some water sources, some berry plants, climbers in the hedge, and when I see new species I want arriving, I make sure they arent overgrown by e.g. nettles or dock.
For me, this is what urban gardeners can do best. Provide bird and butterfly, hoverfly, ladybug, bees (all sorts) etc. habitat. At the same time, it IS a garden, so you want it to look pleasant - like an ideal woodland with sunny glades. Plant things like cowslips, snakeshead fritillary, anemones, bluebells, solomon's seal, ferns.. and let them sink or swim. Let the grass grow long in spring before you cut it, to let things flower.Instead of a lawn, let it turn to meadow, but mow paths through it so you can walk through it. If you plant trees, keep stripping the lower limbs off to about head height, to let light and air through, and to have the trunk straight. It's not rewilding, as such, but it does radically help to maintain local biodiversity. You want a sort of woodland-edge effect. (high biodiversity area). Leave piles of stuff where insects can overwinter. bees like to overwinter in hollow stems, and you can put flowerpots in the soil with the hole pointing up for solitary bumblebees. Make sure that there is lots of leaf litter and suchlike on the surface for worms to dig in. This will also allow fungi to thrive. Dont dig the soil (except in veggie garden areas, and even then you can avoid it). Dont worry about pests, because your biodiversity will take care of it. In an acre garden, you can have about 30 large trees, with a meadow or two, and several broad boreens going through it, opening up vistas. Light and shade. Dappled sunlight, birdsong.
And you can also plant gooseberries, raspberries, red and white currants, strawberries, cherries - let them go wild and let the birds and animals have their share. Even apples, pears. There is no reason you cant have free food from the garden also - try runner beans sprawling over a hedge. But just keep lots of wild places. Fern groundcovers. Ivy, holly, mistletoe, branchpiles. leaves mixed in. plenty of nesting and resting spots. All possible in a decent sized urban garden. And let it do the unexpected.
Is it possible to visit?
@farmingfornature is there any chance to get the contact from eoghan? I am a student from Germany, studying nature conservation and landscape management and I would love to volunteer at his place to learn more about his high nature value farm and rewilding project. 😊
Do you know the impact of Alpaca on vegetation? I know they dont hack up the ground, but what about their grazing habits?