Environment Newsletter - April 2025

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In this edition:

• Hedges’ vital role
  Our native Irish hedges are an example of how biodiversity, climate and water are connected. Both treeline hedges and topped hedges sequester and store carbon, regulate water in the landscape, and are a very important habitat – provided each type is managed appropriately, ensuring a good and healthy structure. Of 110 birds regularly recorded in the BirdWatch Ireland Countryside Bird Survey, 55 use hedges, with 35 nesting in them, each with different requirements and using a different niche.
• Biodiversity - Allow space for nature in your field margins
  Field margins comprise rough grassland on the edge of fields of intensively managed farmland. Their linear nature provides corridors of movement and networks for nature through the countryside, as well as being habitats of high biodiversity value.
  
• Climate
  This edition covers 10 supports available to farmers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)
• Water 
  Fencing off watercourses on farms protects water quality and can improve the ecological quality of a watercourse. Unrestricted access of cattle to streams and rivers can lead to environmental degradation in your local area. One of the primary benefits of fencing off watercourses is the reduction of direct pollution.