Cumhacht an Nádúir is a new two-part documentary for TG4 that looks at the solace nature has offered during this pandemic and how it may fuel the debate for a broader range of wildlife habitat and land management.
A positive consequence of the coronavirus is the way in which it has led many of us to value and explore our natural surroundings. Access to wilderness areas, coastlines and parklands has provided much needed solace during this pandemic.
In this two-part documentary, Cumhacht an Nádúir, we find out if this greater awareness has been of any benefit to wildlife, and whether a greater natural balance can emerge from the lockdown experience.
What happens when sites fall strangely and beautifully silent, when nature is given a chance to breathe and to revive? Has this twelve-month period implanted a greater need to protect and expand our wilderness areas?
In the hands of presenter Darach Ó Murchú, an environmental educator who was given permission to travel outside of his own restricted area, they visit some of Ireland’s most celebrated destinations and tourist sites: Malin Head, the Blaskets, Glendalough, and Garnish Island, as well as community spaces and local areas of beauty. He captures these locations during a near total absence of visitors and we consider how wildlife has behaved in their absence. Post-lockdown, he returns to evaluate how these landscapes could be better managed in the crucial years ahead.
In this series Darach meets Congella McGuire, Heritage Officer Clare County Council who is very passionate about the environment and conservation. She has established several rewilding sites in the county, which is perhaps the country’s most active with regard to biodiversity and re-wilding schemes.
Ruairí Ó Conchúir is the Community Water Officer for Co. Clare. He is passionate about finding spaces that can be handed back to nature to give them a chance to restore themselves to their original, wild origin.
Darach also meets Olive Carey Dúchas na Sionna, who is involved in the Shannon Wetlands rewilding project, Co. Clare.
