Wetlands on track to bounce back
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By Hayden Moore
FROGS have already spawned and the Tallaght wetlands site they once called home, before tonnes of silt was dumped atop of it in 2019, may be on track to “bounce back” quicker than expected.
Local conservationist Collie Ennis has been keeping a close eye on the site which he once called “a little gem” and this week, has discovered that the common frog population has returned in force.
Collie Ennis at the wetlands site
“They’re back!,” Collie exclaimed.
“With all of the warm weather they have spawned now and everything, and in fairly large numbers as well.
“Because they are frogs, they lay so much spawn and breed in such large numbers so it won’t take long for them to hop back to the levels that were there before.
“This is huge and really encouraging, it is possibly a very happy ending to what was an unfortunate incident.
“It’s positive news, but now is the time to act and take action to afford the wetlands the correct protections it deserves.
Collie visited the wetlands a few nights ago and counted 40-50 breeding adult common frogs, double the population that he counted during the nearest spawning season that proceeded the destruction of site.
The wetlands in Sean Walsh Park adjacent the pond
The area, which just 15-months ago was buried under four feet of silt, has begun to regenerate and through nature “working it’s magic”, is beginning to bud new ponds.
“I’ve been going down off my own back three and four times a week, the council haven’t made any contact with me since that disaster,” Collie, the science officer with the Herpetological Society of Ireland, tells The Echo.
“It’s still an area close to my heart, when you spend so much time surveying and working so close with the little animals it would be hard not to.
“I’m amazed that it has bounced back as quick as it has because the state it was left in, I thought it would take years to restore itself.
Collie in September 2019 at the silt dumped on top of the wetlands
“It’s been just over a year since all that silt was dumped on top of it and ponds are starting to form again.
“It just shows that nature is working its own magic and there is a good chance of the area returning to its former glory.”
The wetlands, which is located off the Whitestown Road in Sean Walsh Park, was teaming with wildlife and full of protected bats, newts, frogs and critically endangered European eel at the time of its destruction in September 2019.
Following the dumping of more than four feet of silt at the wetlands, which was extracted from the nearby stream and ponds within Sean Walsh Park, many where left scratching their heads about what it meant for the future of the site.
Included on the Proposed Draft Tallaght Town Centre Local Area Plan 2020-2026 as an integrated “constructed wetlands” by South Dublin County Council, Collie was puzzled by the decision to remove the project in Sean Walsh Park from the final plans.
“The council did install liners to hold water, which was a good mitigation response to alleviate some of the damage they caused,” he says.
“The council are working on constructed wetlands in areas around South Dublin, which don’t get me wrong is fantastic news and it deserves to be lauded.
“But Sean Walsh Park was not included in that plan to build an integrated constructed wetland after it was destroyed.
“It was recognised on a national survey as a wetland area and it wants to be a wetland. You walk down there, and the paths are bubbling with water, that area is naturally a wetlands.
“So why are they constructing wetlands in all these other areas? Why not work on protecting what we have here in the heart of Tallaght, an area with natural aquatic loving species.
“It’s all well and good that the council have plans, and they sound great, but they need to get the finger out – it’ll be a great amenity if they do.”
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