Living Bog project commended by Minister Noonan as it completes restoration work on 12 sites

The Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan T.D. has today (Tuesday March 8) commended the peatland restoration work of the The Living Bog, an EU LIFE Nature Project co-funded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service at his department, which commenced in 2016 and is finishing up this month.

Upon its inception ‘The Living Bog’ was the largest single peatland restoration project of its kind, funded to the tune of €5.4m. Over the past six years it worked on raised bog Special Areas of Protection (SAC’s) across seven counties in Ireland.

‘The Living Bog’s’ end-of-project hybrid conference with its hub in Athlone heard today that between 2016 and 2021, the project has improved the condition of over 2,650ha of raised bog habitat and is on target to achieve over 720ha of Active Raised Bog habitat across the project sites, which will equate to an increase of over 50% since 2016. It is also estimated that an extra 100 tonnes of CO2 is being sequestered per year as a result of the work, and this will increase in the coming years as vegetation becomes established and the bogs achieve renewed equilibriums.

Restoration involved the blocking of over 182 km of drainage channels with over 15,000 dams including peat dams as well as plastic dams and sluices. The project developed a new understanding of the restoration potential of previously cutover bog (where peat had been removed), developing enhanced restoration techniques such as bunding on the cutover.

Minister Noonan commented:

Nominated for one of Europe’s top environmental awards, the Natura 2000 Awards in 2020, the project devised a large schools programme and put communities in the centre of most major decisions.

Minister Noonan, who has long advocated peatland restoration said Ireland’s raised bogs are a very special and unique place and where once people came together to harvest peat for fuel, they can now come together on these bogs for different reasons.

The project worked with communities in devising and delivering visitor facilities and amenities, including looped walks, boardwalks, recreational areas and demonstration areas on a number of its project sites, most notably on Carrownagappul Bog SAC in Mountbellew, Co Galway. Here, the bog has been re-Christened ‘Galway’s Living Bog’ and the local community has developed a range of immersive bog activities for school groups and tourists alike.

Existing boardwalks on Clara Bog SAC in Co Offaly have been greatly enhanced by The Living Bog, with new roadside walks, a woodland walk and high bog walks all developed by the local community and delivered by the project. A boardwalk through woodland, cutover and high bog on Ferbane Bog SAC in Co Offaly emerged following project engagements with a local secondary school: Gallen Community School. The award-winning walks on Kilteevan Bog SAC in Co Roscommon were also added to, and it is hoped this work can be progressed on other bogs in the future.

Ecologists on the project have developed a brand new habitat classification system for cutover bog which also contributes to studies of the carbon balances of different habitat types. Positive ecological results were published in a number of scientific journals. The project also recognised for the first time in an Irish context that Active Raised Bog occurred on cutover bog and shows results in a much shorter time frame than originally envisaged. Although the trajectory towards active raised bog can be achieved very quickly on the cutover, the achievement of active raised bog on the cutover will still take longer than on the high bog as some specialist species appear to be slower to colonise the cutover.

Bird surveys undertaken by Birdwatch Ireland showed that restoration of certain bogs in Offaly and Galway had an almost immediate impact on bird species, with increasing numbers returning not long after bogs were re-wetted.

The project team worked closely with landowners and other stakeholders regarding the aims of the project. The project lead to the creation of two national funding schemes. The Protected Raised Bog Restoration Incentive Scheme which allowed for payments to be made to landowners impacted by the restoration works or where access was required. The project also contributed to the creation of The Peatlands Community Engagement Scheme, an annual support for community groups attached to peatlands country-wide which is operated by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

The project ends with a two-day conference which will see delegates experience first-hand the work of the project team on ‘Galway’s Living Bog’ in Mountbellew and on Clara Bog SAC in Co Offaly. Delegates also heard the Government intentions to support the restoration work of the remainder of the bogs in protected raised bog network bogs.

ENDS

Ireland's Raised Bog SAC Network

Ireland’s raised bogs Special Areas of Conservation are part of the European Natura 2000 network of sites selected for the purposes of conserving natural habitats and species of plants and animals which are rare, endangered or vulnerable. The EU Habitats Directive lists certain habitats (listed in Annex I) and species (listed in Annex II) that must be conserved by designating and appropriately managing SACs. Habitats and species on these lists which are considered to be particularly endangered are called “priority” habitats and species. There are 59 habitats listed in Annex I in Ireland, including raised bogs, blanket bogs, turloughs, sand dunes and limestone pavement. Annex II species found in Ireland include salmon, otter, freshwater pearl mussel, Killarney fern and bottlenose dolphin. Each SAC is designated for one or more Annex I habitats and/or Annex II species.

Further details on protected raised bogs can be found within the National Raised Bog SAC Management Plan2017-2022 at

European LIFE Programme

‘The Living Bog’ is funded €4.056m by the European Commission’s EU LIFE Nature and Biodiversity Programme 2014-2040 and €1.344m by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which is the co-ordinating Beneficiary on the project, providing the legislative and policy framework for the conservation of nature and biodiversity in Ireland.

The EU LIFE Nature and Biodiversity Programme is one of the main strands of the European Union’s funding programme. The LIFE Nature and Biodiversity programme co-finances best practice or demonstration projects that contribute to the implementation of the Birds Directive (79/409/EEC) and the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and the Natura 2000 network.

Further details on the project can be found at:

www.raisedbogs.ie

Twitter @LIFEraisedbogs

Facebook @LIFEraisedbogs

Email life@raisedbogs.ie

Peatlands Community Engagement Scheme

The Peatlands Community Engagement Scheme (PCES) operated by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage since 2018 contributes to the strategic objectives as set out in Project Ireland 2040 strategy, the National Raised Bog Special Areas of Conservation Management Plan 2017-2022 and Irelands Rural Regeneration Strategy.

The objective of the scheme is to provide funding to support the conservation and revitalisation of raised bog and blanket bog Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs) and other peatland areas. The Scheme aims to encourage communities, local organisations and other interested parties to become involved in the enhancement of their natural surrounding areas and to raise awareness of environmental concerns.

25 projects were awarded funding totalling €230,000 in 2021 under the Peatlands Community Engagement Scheme supporting various local projects in peatland areas with €500,000 funding allocated to the scheme in 2022 for such projects.

Further details on the scheme can be found on the NPWS website.

NPWS Raised Bog SAC restoration programme

Funding under the Carbon Tax Fund in 2020 enabled the commencement of peatland restoration measures on almost 1,900 hectares of raised bog on up to 9 raised bog designated sites in the midlands region along with the development of drainage management plans for the raised bogs Special Areas of Conservation and other peatland management and conservation measures.

A total of €24.3m funding across 2021 and 2022 has been allocated for peatlands conservation, management and restoration actions. This will provide for the restoration of up to a further 2500 hectares of protected raised bog together with other peatlands conservation measures in due course.

The protected raised bog restoration programme helps sustain jobs in midlands communities and other regions and aids the local economy.

Successfully piloted under the EU LIFE Project ‘The Living Bog’, the Department is currently rolling out the Protected Raised Bog Restoration Incentive Scheme, on a site by site basis across the raised bog SAC and NHA networks.

More information on this scheme can be found on the NPWS website.

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage Press Office

Tel: (01) 888 2638 (direct)

Email: press@housing.gov.ie

Website: gov.ie/housing

Twitter: @DeptHousingIRL