Moville locals inspired to respect nature and make changes

More than 100 people gathered at St Eugene’s Hall in Moville to hear internationally-acclaimed landscape gardener and environmentalist Mary Reynolds give an important talk.

ChangeMakers organised the event in collaboration with the Rights of Nature campaign, The Gathering, ECO Inishowen and Inishowen Development Partnership.

It focused on the Rights of Nature movement and emphasised the urgent need to restore nature, considering the impending biodiversity crisis the world is facing.

READ NEXT: Almost €60,000 in funding announced for Donegal's Agricultural Shows in 2025

Attendees were deeply inspired by the powerful messages delivered by Mary Reynolds, founder of the ‘We Are The Ark’ global movement, and by local activist Rose Kelly, of Rights of Nature.

In opening, Mary addressed the audience with a frank challenge: “If you want to save the planet, start with your own patch of it, or else stop talking about it.”

She discussed the concept of shifting baseline syndrome, explaining how each generation has a different understanding of what’s natural.

“My dad used to talk about butterflies migrating. When I was young, butterflies would pass overhead and block out the sun. Now, if we see one, we think everything’s okay.”

Wexford native Mary elaborated on the fragile state of the ecosystem, emphasising that humanity has yet to recognise a vast number of species.

“The web of life consists of an estimated 8.7 million species on this planet, and we’ve only recognised and catalogued 1.2 million of them so far. We are tearing threads out of this web of life but we are completely and hopelessly dependent on it to stay intact.”

She urged the audience to rethink their relationship with nature: “When we lived on the land, we understood that the only way we can live here is if we work together, like spiders in the centre of a web. We are all gardeners now, and we are just taking and using. It’s not right.”

The discussion also highlighted practical steps individuals can take, including eliminating harmful chemicals as a priority.
“At the very least, we have to stop using poisons,” Ms Reynolds stated, pointing out the dangers of normalising chemicals in gardening.

Moville’s Rose Kelly, of the Rights of Nature campaign, delivered a message of hope and collective strength.
“These are dark times; if you look up at all, it is very scary, but it is also a time of great opportunity . . . that’s why the Rights of Nature movement is so powerful, to realise we are not alone, you know the old saying: Ní neart go cur le chéile; Together, we are strong.”

“The kind of strength we need is not the power-over strength of colonisers, corporations, big government, or even organised religion. It is power with a special kind of energy that occurs only when people come together with a good purpose.”
The ‘Conversations Toward Action’ concluded with a renewed sense of urgency and empowerment among attendees, who described the talk as a “wake-up call” and “inspiring.”

To find out more about local groups and actions across the peninsula, contact IDP at 0749362218.