Tea and thank you to all!

Cabragh Wetlands Trust is quite justifiably unknown for its economic predictions, but we anticipate bad news in the coming months for the Irish tea drinker.
There have been severe droughts in the Kenyan highlands, and a consequent collapse of around 50% in tea production. Perhaps our money-driven world takes too much account of the laws of supply and demand, but it seems inevitable that this will be reflected in a price rise for the tea that we buy in our local shops. Ireland leads the world in per capita tea consumption, drinking more cups per day per person than any other country. While we support purchase of locally sourced food, tea is not something we can grow here, so we are at the mercy of international trade, and international weather.


Everything is linked. In Kenya a hundred years ago the realization of the wealth to be created by growing tea and coffee led to a rush to clear ground to plant tea bushes. As demand and profits grew, so did the ambitions of the planters. Hundreds of thousands of hectares were cleared and plantations spread into the hills, where ancient trees had multiplied into vast forests acting as giant sponges, soaking up excess water in the rainy season, and slowly drip-feeding it back out in the drier times, creating a self-sustaining balance of trees, plants, insects and animals perfectly adapted to their local habitat.


Deforestation has undermined that balance, perhaps with far greater damage in other parts of the world like the Amazon basin and Indonesia. Now in Kenya when there is heavy rain there are not enough trees to soak up the excess; water runs off the hills too quickly, destroying precious topsoil and in some years causing devastating floods. In periods of drought there is insufficient water trapped in the depleted forests to sustain the volume demanded by users, both farmers and wildlife. The natural balance has once again been lost. It is hardly a new lesson; the dust-bowls in the American mid-West were a major element in turning the 1929 Wall Street Crash into a global economic depression. There is scope for young historians to build a career writing eco-history, reassessing man's impact on the environment rather than the narrow focus of man's interaction with man.


Talking of conserving local habitat, many thanks to those who helped with the Cabragh Wetlands Open Day at the end of August. An invaluable contribution has been made to our bank balance, thanks to the generosity and goodwill of those who helped by donating prizes, setting up shelters, giving of their time on the day, displaying their skills and crafts, and so much more. There was a wonderful sense of community and cooperation. As a small recompense, the Wetlands Trust is inviting all contributors to a thankyou evening on Tuesday 22nd September. More details will be circulated next week.