Rural residents in Co Limerick have protested at the cutting of roadside hedges during the nesting season. The Limerick branch of Birdwatch Ireland has received dozens of phonecalls from people all over the county regarding the timing and severity of the hedge-cutting.
A branch spokesman said that while the public appreciated the traffic safety aspects of hedge-cutting, the situation was a cause for alarm. One stretch of road badly cut was the R512 between Limerick and Kilmallock, according to Birdwatch.
Birdwatch Ireland recommends the deferring of any cutting or trimming of roadside hedgerows until after the end of July. The organisation considers that destructive hedge-cutting methods which involve the razing down of hedgerows and hedge-bank vegetation should be abandoned.
Birdwatch Ireland is encouraging farmers to adopt a conservation-friendly attitude in maintaining trees and hedges by scheduling the work outside the March to July period.