A massive old oak, wrapped in ivy, down by the shores of Bantry Bay, West Cork.

So many people still believe ivy is a 'parasite', or 'kills trees', but in Europe it's a natural and vital part of forest ecosystems, providing food, shelter, and cover to a great range of wildlife.

The government has established a new dept.

There's hope for ash trees against dieback, but it depends on one thing: *natural regeneration*.

The reasons for prioritising natregen over planting are so many, so powerful, I sometimes feel I'm going out of my mind seeing them *still* being ignored.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

We've been conditioned to think forests should be neat and tidy, but that's parkland: a domesticated version.

REAL forest ecosystems are wild, tangled, and unruly.

Remember all is fair in love & building a tree canopy!

Deep in an Irish rainforest like a Mayan temple, thickly blanketed in mosses, ferns, and trees, the remains of an ancient stone structure.

Long ago, people lived here, or maybe stayed temporarily whilst minding cattle. A lost world, now enveloped in a sea of green.
🌎

Nothing symbolises an Irish rainforest better than epiphytic polypody fern. 🌍

A rewilding landscape, with behind the snow-covered Kerry mountains.

In the years to come, may similar vistas start to blossom across Ireland.
🌎