A rare and magnificent nature reserve was transformed into a wildlife graveyard in a crude post-storm clean-up, reports author and ecologist Kevin Corcoran.

Formed at the end of the last ice age, the Gearagh is the very last intact primeval river forest left in the whole of Western Europe, surviving due to its fortuitous location on an expansive and bizarre inland delta on the middle section of the River Lee in Co Cork.

Here, on leaving the hills of its youthful formation, it broadens out into an extraordinary floodplain as it breaks up into an intricate maze of multi-branching streams.

Continually dividing, joining, and redividing, the channels ensnare an infinite network of alluvial islands covered in ancient oak forest, the edges of which are shielded by deep water streams that run in several confusing directions, with some flowing east, others west, north, or south.

As a result, it is a confusing and perilous place to the unacquainted where, within an apparently monotonous mesh of forest and multi-directional streams, they easily become

disorientated and so cannot get out.

Such are the malevolent characteristics that have ensured its survival and, despite the endless attempts by humans to fell, drain, and remove it over the centuries, including drowning it under the flood waters of a hydroelectric reservoir, more than 300 acres still survive to make it one of the most exceptional aboriginal woodland’s still standing in Ireland.

Designated a National Nature Reserve in 1987, the Gearagh, near Macroom, is an important Natura 2000 site under the EU Habitats Directive, both for its extraordinary forest and migrant birdlife.

Consequently, it has become an important recreational and educational area for thousands of citizens throughout Munster.

As well as a wonderful wildlife area that is frequented by numerous nature lovers and walkers, it has also become a great place of healing for many, whereby the unique, naturally regenerating wet-woodland habitat that straddles the only accessible public walkway across the reserve acts as an open-air classroom through which visitors can directly engage with nature.

The visually-impaired, senior citizens, individuals with special needs, and those recovering from debilitating trauma are some of the varied groups of people that have become much attached to the Gearagh.

As well as a place of exercise, the walk across the Gearagh has become a rejuvenating temple, a church, a place of spiritual and emotional healing.

Following Storm Ophelia, on October 16, a number of trees came down along the 1.6km-long walkway.

On professional inspection, it was noted that approximately 1% of the trees were damaged, while the remaining 99% rode out the storm.

But what happened next is beyond comprehension.

Citing “health and safety” concerns, the ESB authorities, who own the site, engaged a two-man outfit to enter the causeway and carry out what appears to have been a crude post-Ophelia clean-up.

Strangely, some of the few trees that came down were not touched and left lying across the walkway, where they greatly impede access.

Instead, the remaining 99% of healthy trees were felled with a crudeness that defies all logic.

Using two tractors, one equipped with a circular saw and the other with a bucket, not a single tree along the delightful arched walkway was spared, while anything that escaped the saw was battered and beaten with the bucket of the tractor.

The mangled debris was then piled high along the length of the causeway to create a scene more redolent of a bomb site.

Many of the smashed trees now hang precariously along the length of the walk, while entry into the wet woodland is impossible.

In addition, the path was churned up by the tractors into a mud-filled trench that makes access for most a challenge but impossible for all special needs groups.

Those innocent members of the public that turned up there to walk, on encountering the horrific scene either stood there speechless or wept openly, their church, their garden of healing butchered beyond recognition.

So, so many innocent people traumatised by an action that can only be described as senseless.

Such was the extent of public shock and disbelief at the destruction the story circled the globe within days.

From Boston to Berlin, from Singapore to Sydney Irish emigrants began to contact the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to express outrage.

The insensitive, supercilious denial of any wrongdoing in the ESB’s public response only added further to the trauma of all those who know the disturbing truth — aaaahhhh, such inexplicable cruelty against those who love and need nature.

If the attitude adopted by the ESB in the Gearagh was applied to all our national nature reserves, then places like Killarney and Glendalough would have been levelled to the ground post-Ophelia and so, no longer accessible to the public.

As no ‘Notifiable Action’ was entered into with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) beforehand, the overreaction to the minor storm damage at the Gearagh is not only

very disturbing, it is a clear breach of the Habitats Directive.

The application of these laws is, as of last week, under the responsibility of Heritage Minister Josepha Madigan (previously Heather Humphreys), and effected under the duty of the NPWS. To ensure their worth, as well as the integrity of the office she is entrusted with,

it is vital that the minister apply these laws in all circumstances where they are clearly broken.

Properly managed, the Gearagh has the potential to become a major tourist attraction equal in value to the Cliffs of Moher.

It contains the very last stand of Primeval River-Forest left in Western Europe, while its encompassing wetlands are a magnet for birdlife.

These, if combined together and developed using best environmental practice, would become a must-see on every visitor’s bucket list.

This would create the springboard for a whole new sustainable, eco-tourism initiative, not just for Cork and the Lee Valley but the entire south-western region, this being possible through fishing, walking and cycling routes, rural tourism projects incorporating artisan foods and crafts, education and research, language and lifestyle programmes.

Initially, this would require:

An on-site Gearagh Interpretative Centre;

Alluvial forest restoration;

Wetland enhancement and wildfowl protection;

A system of sympathetic pathways and footbridges through the alluvial floodplain under supervised access.

Under an effective Gearagh Management Programme, the economy of the area would undergo a sensational boost while the image of the ESB would also improve substantially.

As it stands, the degree of corporate social responsibility it engenders in the locality is derisory. Whenever approached about aspects of the nature reserve, the ESB is quick to emphasise that its sole function is to make electricity and not a wildlife conservation organisation.

Accepting that stance, then the ESB should leave the care of the Gearagh Nature Reserve to those experienced and committed professionals within the NPWS that are trained and equipped to do so as, under its care the bird population has been slaughtered beyond recovery and the woodlands acutely degraded.

They have turned what should be an international showcase of eco-tourism and bio-economics into a Wildlife Graveyard.

Shame.

Author of several walking guides, Kevin Corcoran is an ecologist at the West Cork Ecology Center, a voluntary, private non-web based group that primarily assists those who ‘need nature’. His newest book ‘Saving Eden. The Gearagh, Western Europe’s Last Primeval River Forest’ is due for publication in the coming year.

In a statement yesterday, the ESB said:

“Following Storm Ophelia, ESB undertook emergency works along the public walkway at the Gearagh to remove a significant number of fallen trees and branches that had been

damaged during the course of the storm. The works were undertaken due to concerns for public safety especially given that a subsequent storm, Storm Brian, was about to make landfall.

“ESB is now planning to undertake additional remedial works on the surface of the walkway and also additional pruning which will aid natural regeneration of the trees.”

The work commenced yesterday and is expected to take up to five days to complete.

“As a safety precaution, the walkway will be closed to the public for the duration of the works,” the ESB said.