Members of Transition Monaghan took a trip to Lough Muckno to hear from “Friends of Lough Muckno” who shared their concerns about Monaghan County Councils Vision for developing the area. The Vision created by external consultants would result in a huge impact on the landscape and risk damage to already weakened habitats and water quality.
THE TREE MAY BE DEAD BUT ITS WOOD STILL SUPPORTS LIFE
“Dead wood provides one of the two or three greatest resources for animal species in a natural forest ecosystem,” says Charles Elton in ‘The Pattern of Animal Communities’. Although it is quite often removed in an effort to keep things tidy and make space for living trees, dead wood is actually a vital element in woodland ecosystems. Wood decomposition is one of a woodland’s essential recycling processes and a natural part of every tree’s lifecycle. Dead and decaying wood also provides a nutrient-rich habitat for fungi, a nursery for beetle larvae and a larder for insectivorous birds and other animals. Incredibly, forests worldwide produce and decompose 150 billion tonnes of wood every year! This article is adapted from an article by the Woodland Trust that can be found on their website (www.woodlandtrust.co.uk).
Transition Monaghan held a meeting on 5th January 2022 on ZOOM.
Members in attendance:
Dermot McNally (Chair), Collette McEntee (Treasurer), Floss Moen (Column Editor), Liam Murtagh (SPC Delegate), Eddie O’Gara (SPC Delegate), Niamh Brannigan, Bernie O’Flaherty, Charlie Barker, Emer Brennan and Marty Connolly.
Agenda:
Dermot welcomed attendees and move to invite speakers.
Transition Monaghan are involved in a Water Quality awareness video project on Monaghan water quality. The project is led by Siolta Chroi, supported by Transition Monaghan and funded by LAWPRO). At this stage in late 2021, a lot of the footage has been taken and a few interviews have been done. There are a few more interviews to do before the footage can be edited to make the final video.
Transition Monaghan 