Tidy Towns!

It was very pleasing to read in last week’s Star about the success of Holycross in the Tidy Towns Competition. Sited on the fringes of Holycross Parish, Cabragh Wetlands Trust was delighted to hear of the well-earned success of our friends on the local Tidy Towns committee. Not surprisingly there is some overlap in the membership of the two organizations, and like any small community, the hard voluntary effort of busy men and women is absolutely priceless.

Readers of this column will remember our concerns about too much emphasis on tidiness, which can so often be destructive of habitat and biodiversity, so it was very good to see that the adjudicators placed great emphasis on wildlife and natural amenities, with plenty of practical suggestions about landscaping and preservation of natural habitats along the river frontage, and a strong comment about planting native species that will enhance the food chain. These are tips that we can all apply in our own gardens.

Think carefully though before you act on one piece of advice from the adjudicators: “Do remove the two dead trees”. In the case of Holycross’s river frontage, this is no doubt very sound advice, and if dead trees are unsafe then they will have to come down, but cutting them down and “removing” them are very different. So pause for a moment before you swing the axe or start up the chainsaw. Dead trees are a vital part of many ecosystems, and a key player in the development of our natural heritage. A dead tree left to decay naturally on the ground can be a wonderful source of wildlife, providing shelter for small mammals, a home for countless insects, and a superb environment for new plants to grow. As the tree breaks down over the years, so it will enrich the soil into which it is decaying, becoming a wonderfully rich medium in which new life can flourish.

Out of death new life springs. It has always been thus. The death of trees and other plants has largely created the life in our landscape, determining a specific local chemical balance which influences which species will flourish in the area. Soil is dead plants; death creates life. Dead trees created our heritage.

So perhaps those two trees have to come down, but may be they could be left in a quiet corner as a log pile in which hedgehogs can shelter, beetles and a myriad of other insects flourish, fungi grow, birds feed, small mammals hunt. Worms will turn the logs into good soil, badgers will root and life will go on. And children will come and turn over the logs, see new sights and learn about the non-human creatures with whom we share this extraordinary planet. And perhaps, if we are lucky, they will grow up to mange it better than we have done.