An Oireachtas Committee has been hearing this week about a story that I’m sure will concern many listeners and that’s the dramatic decline in certain bird species.
Birdwatch Ireland who addressed the committee on culture and heritage this week said some species groups have seen their numbers fall by 50 percent since the 1970s.
It’s blamed the significant drops on climate change, agriculture, hedge cutting, pollution and burning of scrub. Tom Lynch from the Clare branch of Birdwatch Ireland, Tom tells us that some of the species that are in decline are Lapwing, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Goldeneye and Pochard.
It says that there has been an almost complete extermination of farmland birds like the Corncrake.