PSA: Grubbing refers to the removal of roots from the soil after destruction of the hedge.
Farmers: stewards of the land.
€2000 is not nearly enough of a deterrent
Great news, If only do would the same for rivers. They are destroyed
It’s so odd what you all do and don’t enforce in your country. That being said I do like a nice Irish hedgerow
Convicted and fined for cutting his own hedge because there may have been birds nesting in it.
If there definitely were nesting birds in the hedge his punishment would start to make sense. And if he destroyed the nest of an endangered species then it would completely make sense.
But when you can knock a person under a train and get less punishment than if you potentially damaged a birds nest, it doesn’t inspire confidence in the justice system.
Stupidly low penalty
Just so that everyone understands: this is much more than just nesting birds. We have lost 80% of our bumble bees and solitary bees, as well as large numbers of small mammals. The number one cause of that is destruction of habitat, i.e. hedgerows and wild flowers. One key function hedgerows provide is a connection between locations, a kind of highway across the countryside – putting a 112m gap in this creates a break that bees won’t cross, limiting their access to food. So, in a country with the lowest level of forests in Europe, damaging hedgerows is really harmful to the environment.
8 comments
PSA: Grubbing refers to the removal of roots from the soil after destruction of the hedge.
Farmers: stewards of the land.
€2000 is not nearly enough of a deterrent
Great news, If only do would the same for rivers. They are destroyed
It’s so odd what you all do and don’t enforce in your country. That being said I do like a nice Irish hedgerow
Convicted and fined for cutting his own hedge because there may have been birds nesting in it.
If there definitely were nesting birds in the hedge his punishment would start to make sense. And if he destroyed the nest of an endangered species then it would completely make sense.
But when you can knock a person under a train and get less punishment than if you potentially damaged a birds nest, it doesn’t inspire confidence in the justice system.
Stupidly low penalty
Just so that everyone understands: this is much more than just nesting birds. We have lost 80% of our bumble bees and solitary bees, as well as large numbers of small mammals. The number one cause of that is destruction of habitat, i.e. hedgerows and wild flowers. One key function hedgerows provide is a connection between locations, a kind of highway across the countryside – putting a 112m gap in this creates a break that bees won’t cross, limiting their access to food. So, in a country with the lowest level of forests in Europe, damaging hedgerows is really harmful to the environment.