Water, Water Everywhere

It may be stating the obvious to say that water is an essential ingredient in the wetland system, but how many of us think about the implications of this? Water is the primary factor controlling the environment and the range of habitats that surround us. Flora and fauna have evolved to give and receive within a wetland community, with plants like the iris contributing by oxidising the water, in turn allowing other plants and creepy-crawlies to survive and flourish. The purity of the water supply is the prime reason why the Cabragh Wetlands supports such a variety of species.

Wetlands are an important feature in the landscape for a variety of reasons, yet 50% of all wetlands in Europe have disappeared in the last century. In Ireland about one million acres of wetland have been drained in the past 150 years. Pure, fresh water is a precious resource; only about 1% of the earth’s water is available for drinking at any one time, with another 2% locked up in the ice-caps.

Piped water has made life very comfortable for us. We turn on our tap and there it is. Up to 40% of the water we use is flushed down the toilet – a hugely disproportionate amount. Added to this is all the detergent we use to keep our homes clean and germ-free, and which is then returned to the water-table. Water from our toilets and sinks goes directly into the earth or to a treatment plant to be cleaned at great cost.

Earth is finding it difficult to cope with our demanding lifestyles, and hence water quality is suffering. The fewer toxins that go into the earth, the better it is for both the environment and people. There is a range of eco-friendly products now available, from washing-up liquid to toilet cleaner, and a couple of bricks in your cistern will save a surprising amount of fresh water.

In May 2006 the European Community adopted an action plan to meet the target of halting biodiversity loss by 2010 – a major undertaking. When we learn to see wetlands as a resource rich in biodiversity, we will begin to appreciate their true value and worth. It is a bad start to hear that Ireland came last in a European poll asking the public for their understanding of biodiversity.

Water Beetles

The Cabragh Wetlands Trust has three core objectives – conservation, education and recreation. The boundaries between them are not always clear, but it is not easy to think of anything more important for the next two generations, than a thorough reassessment of our attitude to place in and relationship with the natural environment.

A good place to start is by each community taking the initiative in understanding and conserving its local bio-diversity. Governments and councils can help, but at heart this is surely a community and individual responsibility. Groups like the Cabragh Wetlands Trust can protect fragile habitats and eco-systems from yet more human encroachment, and they can provide a forum for discussion, issue sharing and awareness-raising both among the already committed and those slowly coming round to the realization that things cannot go on as they are.

As proof of just what the Wetlands have to offer, a recent e-mail from a group conducting a national survey of water beetles told us that more species were found at Cabragh than at any other site in the county. Viewing water beetles may not be high on your list of priorities, but this is a clear indication of the importance of the site, and also of the purity of the water, and a reminder of what can be lost when roads and houses mushrooms across the countryside. We call these things developments, and so they are; but they are also destructive and we need to recognize that human progress can come at a terrible cost to the natural world that has taken billions of years to evolve.

We eagerly await more information of those water beetles.