Join Maria Long for a visit to a semi natural grassland in North Kilkenny.Grasslnads are among the fastest disappearing habitats in Ireland. We will discuss what a healthy grassland really looks like and how we can work to restore these endangered habitats. Maria Long is a grassland ecologist with NPWS Gale’s Hill, located near Gathabawn in County Kilkenny. The site is known for it’s rare, semi-natural limestone, orchid-rich grassland and is actively managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), using winter conservation grazing with Dexter cattle to maintain the unique grassland ecosystem. It was established as a Nature Reserve in 2024.