New book charts Ireland’s vanishing nature and explores a future for people and wildlife
Pádraic Fogarty has been Campaign Officer for the Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) since 2013 and was its Chairman from 2009 to 2013. During this time he has also been Editor of the IWT’s quarterly ‘Irish Wildlife’ magazine.
In his new book Whittled Away – Ireland’s Vanishing Nature (The Collins Press, price €19.99), Fogarty issues a provocative call to arms and presents an alternative path that could lead us all to a brighter future. The book charts how the grim failure to manage our natural resources has impoverished our country. In Ireland the model of nature protection follows the lines of ‘designation – procrastination –fulmination – compensation’. This formula has left nature being seen as a problem, not a solution. Overfishing, industrial-scale farming and pollution have decimated wildlife habitats and populations. In a single lifetime, vast shoals of herring, rivers bursting with salmon, and bogs alive with flocks of curlew and geese have all become folk memories. Coastal and rural communities are struggling to survive; the foundations of our tourism and agricultural sectors are being undermined. The lack of political engagement frequently sees the State in the European Court of Justice for breaches of environmental law.
But the book also reveals the possibilities for the future, describing how we can fill our seas with fish, farm in tune with nature, and create forests that benefit both people and wildlife. It calls for the return of long lost species like wild boar, cranes and wolves, showing how nature and wildlife can recover hand in hand. Prioritising the natural world will benefit our health, wellbeing and livelihoods. Insightful and ultimately hopeful, Whittled Away explores our past and the opportunities for our future.
50% of all proceeds will be donated to the IWT.
CONTACT: Padraic Fogarty – IWT’s Campaigns Officer – irishwildlife@iwt.ie
