EDITORIAL: One of our greatest allies is being overlooked...

From a height, Tipperary is a breathtaking sight. However, one component essential to our world-famous patchwork quilt of fields is being overlooked.

One of our greatest allies to help offset the immediate impact of climate change is the hedgerow.

Defined as a strip of densely planted trees and shrubs that form a border, hedgerows give our landscape character and should be nurtured.

We have opted for bigger fields and open plains for the benefit of machinery, however the presence of a hedgerow provides countless benefits to our natural environment and should never be underestimated. For livestock, hedgerows provide shelter and additional forage, as well as creating a natural boundary to help limit the spread of disease.

Their presence also prevents soil erosion and can help reduce agricultural runoff currently causing devastating eutrophication in our rivers and streams. A hedgerow in your garden or beside a road can provide a home for countless other organisms, with trees, shrubs and flowers all benefiting from their unassuming presence.

They provide a home and larders for birds, small mammals, insect species, a location for both nesting and resting. Anyone who uses our roads is familiar with the horrible sight of roadkill.

A hedgerow can reduce this ghastly occurrence by providing a natural corridor slowing wildlife access to their habitats they have been isolated from. A thriving hedgerow can create a carbon sink by offsetting our emissions alongside providing both shelter and shade as the weather reverts to extremes.

It’s no longer enough that we try to maintain the sparse remnants of past generation’s efforts. For thousands of years, we have depended on a delicate symbiosis of man and nature, something our generation must revive and protect. Planting a simple hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, crab apple, dogwood, scots pine or whitebeam will not only benefit the wildlife trying to survive in this harsh climate, but will also help your own life for years to come.