A hedgerow survey is being carried out in Leitrim to compare the results with a similar study carried out in 2006.
The work is being undertaken by the Woodlands of Ireland group on behalf of Leitrim Council and it involves studying 16 different square kilometres of land in various locations around the county.
The square kilometre studied in Drumsna in 2006 was found to have one of the densest hedgerow networks in the county with just over 22 kilometres of hedgerow within the area.
Joe Gowran from Woodlands of Ireland says the importance of hedgerows can't be overestimated and the work that's being carried out now will help to plan for their retention, and should also help farmers in terms of getting payments under the new results based agri scheme.
"Two-thirds of countryside birds rely on the hedges for nesting but also for seeds and fruit on them. Bats also use them. It's important that the survey work is done to just get an idea of where things are going. We have a parallel project to try and get the National Forest Inventory to do ground sampling of hedges as well to try and get that into the UN reporting system which may then benefit farmers in terms of developing results based agriculture schemes".
