Protecting the Threatened Flora of Old Walls

Protecting the Threatened Flora of Old Walls

Old walls act as refugia for many plant species which were once common in the Irish landscape but are now rare following the destruction of their natural habitats.

Position Paper No. 2 by The Dublin Naturalists’ Field Club

In this position paper we set out the scientific reasons for our concerns about these built habitats. We recognise that the loss of these habitats is part of a wider downgrading of our natural biodiversity, and we appreciate that often very well-intentioned but unhelpful voluntary actions have been conducted in an information and knowledge vacuum. Accordingly, we set out an evidence-based rationale for the protection of these special habitats while they still survive. In addition, we suggest ways in which the on-going losses of these habitats might be prevented, and we indicate pathways for well-directed conservation actions by concerned citizens.