Wildlife pond created in ’Mines

Local farmer takes part in Burrenbeo project

A Silvermines farmer recently created a wildlife pond on his land as part of a new initiative aimed at enhancing our natural heritage.

Always looking for new ways to improve his farm, Maurice Leamy contacted Burrenbeo, a national trust that works with communities, landowners and farmers across four distinct projects. Maurice engaged in the ‘ReFarm’ project, which seeks to restore biodiversity and improve ecosystems on farms.

“It’s all about enhancing biodiversity on farmlands – going back to the way farmland used to be,” Maurice said of the project. He had around a half an acre that was suitable for creating a pond and the idea appealed to him, especially given his concern with the well-documented condition of rivers in Tipperary.

“It was a little natural bowl in the field and all the water was draining into it. I had a drain running adjacent to it as well,” Maurice said of the feature. Burrenbeo put him in contact with a wetlands expert, who advised the farmer on how to construct and seal the pond.

It is now home to an abundance of colourful butterflies and dragonflies, the latter drawn to rocks left around the pond. Endangered bird species like snipe and curlew are also present.

Within a day of creating the pond, a herring came to visit, possibly in search of eels or minnows. Maurice next plans to plant wildflower seeds around the new feature on his farm.

‘FANTASTIC INITIATIVE’

An organic sheep farmer, Maurice has long been advocating for a move away from intensive farming in the interest of environmental protection. The sustained dry spell and its impact on farming this summer has strengthened his belief that farmers everywhere must do what they can to become more sustainable and to arrest the worrying decline of local wildlife.

“We can only keep our own house in order and look after our own patch,” he said. “But our children, our grandchildren – what kind of future are we leaving for them? We have a choice – the generations that are coming have no choice.”

Last year 80 farmers across 21 counties shared a €200,000 fund that saw 139 habitat projects created through Burrenbeo. Further funding is available between now and 2030, and Maurice said he would receive a yearly payment based on the biodiversity score of his wildlife pond. He encouraged other farmers interested in enhancing wetlands, hedgerows or woodland to get involved in the project.

“It’s a fantastic initiative,” he said. “I would like for other people to know about this and to get involved, even if they only had one little corner of their farm and decided to do something like this.”