THE PHOENIX PARK in Dublin may or may not be the largest city park in Europe but it is certainly the largest in Ireland. As a green space, it is one of the capital’s lungs (the other being the sea) and there’s no denying its importance or its popularity.

Its prominence gives it a special status as a place where nature (or ‘green infrastructure’ as policy people like to refer to it) shows its immense value to the urban environment.

The problem is, while the Office of Public Works (OPW) does a good job at presentation, the Park itself is falling far short of its potential and provides surprisingly little for native biodiversity.

The best way to see this is on a sunny day in spring or summer. The vast expanses of grassland meadows should be thrumming with bees and butterflies, but instead the air above is silent and empty. This is because there are no flowers. Unlike most agricultural fields, these meadows are not sprayed with chemicals or slurry and so you would expect them to host glorious displays of every kind of native plant. Instead, they are nearly devoid of anything except dense grasses. The reason? They are all being eaten.

The deer

A recent article in this publication claims that the deer in the Park have, for over 300 years, “promoted the park’s biodiversity”. In fact, the opposite is the case. The abundance of deer, 600 according to the piece, have stripped the Park bare, much as they do in the wild when their numbers are too high. Deer are not particularly fond of grass, so they will make a beeline for softer leaves of trees or flowering plants.

This is why you will not only see scarcely any flowers on summer’s days, but you will never see any wild tree seedlings. The lack of young trees or bushy plants deprives birds of nesting places and so the Park’s bird population also suffers. People will notice that in the wooded areas of the Park, there are practically no plants or scrub on the forest floor. This effect is most obvious in one small area, near the entrance to the Ordnance Survey, which has been fenced off to deer. Inside the fence is a tiny native woodland that is thriving with hazels, brambles and whitethorn. It’s full of bird song in spring.

The fallow deer, which are native to the Mediterranean region, are the prime reason why the biodiversity of the Park is so poor, but they are not the only reason.

While the Park is full of impressively mature trees, too many are non-native and so provide few resources for native insects or other animals. In some areas, cherry laurel, an invasive species, is allowed to flourish. Many of the most beautiful trees are a hundred years old or more, but the OPW are still planting saplings of these exotic species (behind metal guards) that will replace them.

Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Another issue is that mature trees that fall over are, nearly always, hastily chopped up and cleaned away. This denies the park of essential ecological processes as decaying trees (many are not even dead) are important habitats for specialist fungi and invertebrates. By being overly concerned with appearances, the OPW is tidying away a vital layer of the food chain.

How should we care for the Phoenix Park

I am not advocating for the Park to be rewilded in its entirety. It’s important that the amenity value be preserved while open meadows are still important to some of the last nesting skylarks in the city (their song in summer is a joy).

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However, the OPW’s ‘Conservation Management Plan’ from 2011 is out of date and is not fit for the biodiversity emergency. While I would be happy to see the fallow deer removed altogether, I accept that they are a popular attraction, but their numbers should be greatly reduced. Areas that have trees should be converted to native woodland, primarily by fencing out the deer. It’s astonishing that there is no significant area of native woodland at all in the Park.

Non-native trees, particularly the likes of holm oak, which cast a very dark shade, should be gradually removed while cherry laurel needs to be quickly eradicated. Obviously, fallen trees that are a danger or an obstruction need to be cleared. But there’s no reason why certain areas of the Park couldn’t be rewilded, with fallen trees left in place and natural scrub, with brambles and blackthorn, allowed to regenerate.

This impact of this goes way beyond the Phoenix Park or even Dublin. Urban areas in Ireland are splattered with green spaces that are dull, boring expanses with next to no wildlife value.

The Park could and should be a showcase for how urban green spaces can be brimming with biodiversity. It may look a little scruffier around the edges but wouldn’t the sound of bird song and the sight of bees and wild flowers be worth it?

Pádraic Fogarty is an environmental campaigner.