Walk along the Liffey at St Edmundsbury and you'll see the light filtering through the trees, reaching the wild garlic below. Bees and butterflies dance from flower to flower. You'll hear the crunch of leaves underfoot and the gentle lap of the river against its banks, intermingling with the constant variety of birdsong. If you're tuned in, you'll feel a sense of calm settle over you. Spending time amongst mature trees and thriving nature has well-documented benefits for our physical and mental wellbeing. If you're lucky, you might catch sight of a cormorant perched in the trees or fishing in the river. Mostly, though, the thousands of animals that call this diverse stretch of woodland home go quietly about their day, unseen. This is their home, and has been for generations, nestled amongst ancient oaks and other mature trees that provide shelter, food and nesting places for the rich variety of wildlife that depends upon them.

St Edmundsbury provides a rare stretch of genuinely wild woodland, protected from the sounds of everyday life by the surrounding open field, which is itself an important part of this landscape.

At a time when Irish ecologists are calling for the rewilding of our world to restore biodiversity, St Edmundsbury represents a habitat that must be protected. Ireland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in Europe and ranks amongst the lowest (bottom 10%) globally on the Biodiversity Intactness Index. Decades of development, agricultural intensification and monoculture forestry have left us with too few places where native biodiversity can flourish. Protecting the habitats we still have is therefore just as important as creating new ones.

This is why I wholeheartedly support the decision to retain St Edmundsbury's High Amenity Status. That designation recognises the exceptional ecological, landscape and recreational value of this woodland.

Development, whether through housing, new infrastructure or the introduction of hard landscaping such as concrete paths, would inevitably change the character of this area. Increased disturbance, habitat fragmentation, soil compaction around mature trees and greater pressure from human activity would diminish the qualities that make St Edmundsbury so special, not only for the wildlife that depends upon it but also for the people who come here seeking quiet, beauty and connection with nature. 

We cannot afford to lose another precious natural resource. Biodiversity is not a luxury; it is the life-support system upon which we all depend. Protecting places like St Edmundsbury is part of the bigger picture of restoring Ireland's natural heritage and building resilience for future generations.