Dead Zoos & Green Deserts

Jet-lagged Kyle is SUPER excited about Ireland's National Natural History Museum!

On the lawn outside the “Dead Zoo” (aka Ireland’s National Natural History Museum), five deformed sheep-shaped bushes frolic with red Christmas ribbons around their necks.

Sheep-shaped Christmas Bushes

When we walk into the main hall, we see three giant skeletons of the now extinct Irish elk whose antlers easily reach almost twelve feet tip to tip. These ancient deer—the size of Alaskan moose—once roamed throughout Eurasia from Ireland to Siberia. We call them Irish merely because the most intact remains ever discovered were found in the bogs in Ireland. These three particular specimens are estimated to be around 10,000 years old. Standing under their vast bodies, I begin to imagine what kind of ancient Irish environment could have supported such majestically large creatures. Somehow I can’t imagine them thriving on the endlessly green—and virtually treeless—pastures that currently cover the country.

Kyle admiring the giant elk.

             At the back of the chamber, a display labeled “Conservation” catches my eye. The heading “Green Deserts” is written in tiny font over a cracked display case. The term green desert means an outdoors area that, although uniformly green, lacks biodiversity and actively discourages the development of native plants and animals. Ireland is covered in a wealth of livestock grazing fields, cultivated public parks, and home gardens. Most of the tourist appeal of Ireland comes from a longing to engage with its idyllic pastoral landscape of rolling green hills ripe with lambs and shaggy cattle. Unfortunately, this deceptively lush landscape is often the result of widespread deforestation, herbicide overuse, monoculture, and aggressively maintained horticultural order. Native Irish plants and animals (like the once widespread Irish elk) have little chance of survival. 

When the first humans arrived on Ireland around 9,000 years ago (7,000 BCE), the island was blanketed in forests of Oak, Elm, and Scots Pine.  By 4,000 BCE, the forest began to decline. Over the next 5,000 years, both the Elm and Scots Pine died out completely.  By 1900, the once extensive Irish forests were virtually nonexistent, covering only 1.5% of Ireland. Scientists believe that industrialization, population growth, and the clearing practices of Scottish, Welsh, and English settlers caused this mass extinction.

Clear cut forest remains.

Since 1900, afforestation efforts have built the forest back up to around 10% land coverage in 2006. Unfortunately, commercial timber species make up close to 75% of these woodlands.

Commercial (& invasive) lodgepole pine timber stands.

Tree saplings planted in reforestation efforts.

In recognition of the conservation work yet to be done, the Natural History Museum display encouraged locals to plant “wild gardens” filled with biologically diverse native plants species that will attract native wildlife, creating mini-ecosystems. The display also pointed to the potential for Ireland’s numerous hedgerows to serve as wildlife corridors. A living fence of trees, shrubs, and bushes border most pastures and roads in rural Ireland.  If these hedgerows are allowed grow with minimal trimming, native animals can use them as shelter and biological highways.

A Unique Water Conservation Technique

            On the recommendation of Google, we went to Brother Hubbard’s for brunch our second morning in Dublin. After enjoying a wonderful Middle Eastern/Irish fusion brunch, I went to the restroom to discover something awesome above the toilet.  

The sink above the toilet. (Photo courtesy of Kyle Ackerman)

 The sign barely visible in the upper righthand corner read:

I washed my hands in the gushing water. The sink ran for at least 60 seconds, stopping only when the toilet tank was full.  The experience made me viscerally aware of how much water it takes to flush a toilet.


For more information about the history of Irish forest, go here!