Caves Marsh is a very special area in Malahide on the Estuary Road beside the Malahide Dinghy Club. It is an example of a ‘Raised bog’ and very few have survived in Europe. It takes an extra few thousand years for a ‘Bog’ to develop into a ‘Raised Bog’ and most of them have been drained for use in farming etc. Our Caves Marsh is part of a Special Protection Area (SPA) because of the birds that can be found there. Every year the Tidy Towns judges tell us off because we’re not protecting this precious habitat and they are right to do so. We’ve asked the Council to help us to put in measures to better protect this area so that it’s still there for future generations. Unfortunately, that might mean that it is no longer available as a place for walking dogs (or people). The path at the top though is used a lot by pedestrians, especially kids getting to the national school, so we’ve asked that this is kept open. It will mean putting fences around the areas that need protecting - especially near the water. We would beg people to support these changes and respect the need to protect this area from further destruction. We hope to hold some talks over the summer with more information on the rich biodiversity of this small area. We plan to survey it to establish a baseline, compare it to previous surveys with a plan to survey it again in a couple of years to monitor any changes. We are blessed in Malahide with so many beautiful areas, we hope it will be possible to leave this small area aside for nature. As Tidy Towns volunteers, we feel an obligation to attempt to protect this area, people are welcome to disagree but I would ask that they resist the urge to attack members. Thank you.