Ecolution: Lights out and embrace the dark in Mayo!
Happy Earth Day! Since 1970, 22 April has been a date to celebrate the wonders of Mother Nature, while also recognising the fragility of our planet and its ecosystems.
From rainforests to bogs, rivers to coral reefs we are looking at what is happening. That's why we are launching a new series of RTÉ's Climate Podcast for young people - Ecolution!! Coincidentally this week is International Dark Sky Week, so we decided to go two for the price of one.
Listen to Ecolution on RTÉ, Apple or Spotify!
Ecolution is the podcast that talks about the climate crisis, our environment and all of the people, young and old, who are trying to be the change that will make our future sustainable.
For our first show back we wanted to turn out the lights and look up. Wild Nephin National Park in County Mayo is located in a stunning part of the country. And one that, due to its wild makeup, offers a natural habitat for all kinds of flora and fauna. It has been designated as an official Dark Sky Park.
On the show
Back in late January this year Ecolution arrived at the Visitor Centre one evening to find it packed with local scout and girl guide groups, all gathered to take a safely managed leap into darkness. And one group of young people who totally get the importance of embracing the dark is The night owls; a group of boys and girls from Sligo who, along with their forest leader Martina began a project to celebrate things that go bump, bark and squeak in the dark. Especially when we reduce levels of light pollution .
Light pollution is the artificial light that we use to illuminate our homes, our gardens, our towns and roads. And of course we can't turn them all off. But by being more mindful of the kinds of light we use and when we turn them off, we can really help ourselves and nature return to a more balanced way of living, day and night.
And it's something the night owls shared with us and the large group of kids and adults trekking along the path as the sun went down back in January.
Seeing the stars spread out above us at Wild Nephin was an incredible experience and one I'd hope everyone could share. Very sadly, only a couple of weeks ago part of the walkway we hiked along was set on fire, causing really extensive damage to it and the habitat it wound through.
It was a reminder of how humans can affect our environment in so many ways, of how fragile these ecosystems are and why it's so important we safeguard them. For the day and also for the night. The path will be mended and after time the landscape around will recover. But it is timely that one of the Night Owls, Lorcan, wanted to speak about the dangers of fire when camping or out in nature.
Something New!
We've been away for longer than intended but we're returning bigger and better than ever. Presented once again by Evie Kenny, we're back with a weekly Audio Podcast and we are on YouTube too!
There we'll discuss the issues raised in the podcast with a panel of young people from the ISSN, An Taisce Climate Ambassadors and EcoUnesco - so they really know their stuff.
Thank You!
Sinead Gaughan , Georgia McMillan, Molly O'Grady, our Dark Sky guides at Wild Nephin National Park from the NPWS. They worked so hard to gather this amazing bunch of kids and adults to share in celebrating the night sky, the darkness and the space it offers nature. We wish them so much luck in getting the place back on track so as more people can enjoy it just as we did.
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