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What bogs are conserved in Ireland?

Extent and Utilisation of the Peatland Resource

The island of Ireland has a considerable variety of peatlands, many of which are of international importance. They include fens, raised bogs, lowland and upland blanket bogs and several transitional types which together exceed 1.3 million hectares or 16.2% of the land surface of the country.

Although peatlands originally covered more than 17% or 1,178,798ha of the land surface in the Republic of Ireland, the introduction of large-scale, mechanised turf extraction schemes in the 1940's, afforestation programmes commencing in the 1950's, intensification of agriculture following Ireland's entry to the European Community in 1973 and land reclamation have seriously depleted the area of peatland suitable for conservation.

Today only 19% of the peatland resource remains in a relatively intact condition (220,902ha).

Traditional cutting of the bogs by turbary over the last 400 years has had a serious impact on both raised and blanket bogs. 68% of the raised bogs and 46% of the blanket bogs have been cutaway by this process. Peat is still being cut privately and the introduction of machinery and a grant aid scheme under the Turf Development Act 1981 has enabled many small scale extraction programmes to get underway each year, resulting in further loss of sites.

The most serious impact of mechanised peat extraction has been on the Midland raised bogs accounting for a loss of 22% of the resource in less than 50 years. Today 92% of the area of raised bog has been man modified and lost to conservation. Indeed, peatland scientists predict that if current rates of exploitation continue, the last living examples of these bogs will have disappeared by 1997. Only 8% of the original peatland area can be considered for conservation.

Grazing pressure on blanket bogs although particularly severe during the last century mainly by cattle did not result in degradation of this habitat. Sheep have now replaced cattle as the principal grazing animal on blanket bogs due to the system of headage payment and premia grants under the EU Common Agricultural Policy. In addition the widespread subdivision of commonage has concentrated grazing on smaller areas of blanket bog causing severe erosion and complete loss of sites. Overgrazing has led to erosion and habitat loss of 7% of the area of blanket bog in the last ten years and a further 7% is threatened by this activity.

Although 2% of the midland raised bogs have been afforested, large scale afforestation schemes have had the greatest impact in the blanket bog areas with planting on 27% of the area of blanket bogs. The fragmented nature of the forest plantations and other developments including peat cutting has destroyed the integrity of these formerly extensive systems, in much the same way as documented for the Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland. As a result, high quality, extensive tracts of blanket bog suitable for conservation are now a rare commodity in Ireland and only 18% (143,248ha) are still of conservation value. State planting on peatlands has virtually ceased. However private afforestation is still continuing. The plantations established in the last fifteen years have had a significant detrimental effect on a large expanse of blanket bogs. If the current rates of exploitation continue, active examples of this peatland type will have disappeared by 2010.

The most serious impact on fens has been their reclamation for agricultural land which involved drainage, fertilisation, reclamation and removal of peat. 42% have been lost to this use. This leaves 54,026ha suitable for conservation. A number of these sites are secondary fens created by the activity of man. Examples of these are in cutaway bog areas, the margins of raised bogs, the Shannon callows and lake shores where water levels have been artificially lowered.

Conservation initiatives

The recognition of the extensive losses of peatland habitat in Ireland, stimulated a series of conservation initiatives. First priority was given to identifying a list of raised and blanket bogs sites of conservation importance.

There have been three major surveys of peatlands. The first survey was undertaken by An Foras Forbartha from 1968 to 1974.

The second, conducted by the National Parks and Wildlife Service from 1982 to 1991 aimed to identify raised and blanket bogs of scientific importance. The Areas of Scientific Interest (ASI's) identified had no statutory basis.

The third survey in 1992 came after the Irish Government announced its intention to designate 1.25 million acres of land as Natural Heritage Areas (NHA's). This necessitated a resurvey of the 1800 ASI's to assess their status before designating them as NHA's. In addition NHA's were to be given a statutory footing under a revision of the Wildlife Act of 1976.

Raised bogs

The An Foras Forbartha (AFF) survey report of 1981 identified 41 raised bogs of scientific interest. In 1981 the Forest and Wildlife Service (now the National Parks & Wildlife Service) revisited 25 of these sites and discovered that all but one (96%) had suffered complete or partial loss of their scientific interest, and that in 18 cases (72%) this loss was irreversible.

This prompted the National Parks & Wildlife Service to undertake a comprehensive survey of raised bogs from 1982 to 1987 during which time they examined a total of 223 sites. This survey showed that no completely intact raised bogs remained, and that of an original area of 311,300ha of raised bogs, only 24,030ha remained. On-going monitoring by the IPCC showed that further losses of raised bog habitats of European conservation importance could be expected. This was confirmed by the NHA survey of 1992 which has given the NHA designation to 23,628ha or 8% of the original raised bog area. These are all active raised bogs and are of priority for conservation under the Habitats Directive.

Blanket bogs

The AFF report of 1981 identified 33 blanket bogs of scientific interest. During the national blanket bog survey undertaken by the National Parks & Wildlife Service between 1987 and 1991 all of the AFF sites were revisited. This survey found that one site had become extinct and a further three sites had their conservation status down-graded due to overgrazing. The national survey was instrumental in identifying for the first time, a list of blanket bogs of European conservation importance.

Although the Wildlife Service indicated that 500,000ha of blanket bog remained with a potential conservation value (out of an original 774,990ha of blanket bog in Ireland), the completed NHA surveys have found that only 143,248ha is of European conservation importance indicating a loss of 82% of blanket bog habitat in Ireland.

The NHA survey of blanket bog is on-going, as large preliminary NHA's designated in Mayo, Kerry, Sligo and Donegal are still to be examined in detail to determine exact boundaries. It is clear that there have been further losses of blanket bog and that large areas have been degraded due to overgrazing and private mechanical extraction schemes. A survey of upland mountain blanket bogs is still outstanding.

Fens

The AFF report of 1981 identified 156 fens of scientific interest. On going monitoring of these sites has indicated that 6 sites are now extinct and a further 5 sites have been down-graded due to site damage. There has been no national survey of fens undertaken by the National Parks & Wildlife Service and there is a critical lack of information on the status of fens in Ireland. In the absence of detailed studies, the IPCC identified 48,240 ha of fen of potential European conservation importance in 1992.

Following the most recent NHA survey 54,026ha of fen have been designated which is an increase over the previous estimates of the extent of this habitat type.

How much Peatland has been Conserved?

Having identified a resource of peatlands worthy of conservation the Government took a significant step in 1987 when Mr Noel Tracey T.D. declared a Government target for raised and blanket bog conservation of 50,000ha or 4% of the original peatland area in the Republic of Ireland.

Scragh bog, Co. Westmeath conserved by the Dutch Foundation for the Conservation of Irish Bogs

Conservation of peatlands is largely undertaken by the National Parks & Wildlife Service to ensure that the Government honour its commitment to acquire and conserve a minimum of 10,000ha of active raised bog and 40,000ha of active blanket bog. Additional land will be required around the periphery of the conserved bogs in order to protect their hydrological status and form a buffer zone where planning controls would be strictly enforced.

No Government target for fen conservation has yet been declared. Steps have been taken to purchase portions of fens as opportunities arise.

In Northern Ireland 10% (16,778ha) of the original peatland area is conserved by Government and non-governmental organisations.

The names and locations of the sites conserved in the Republic of Ireland are listed here and in Northern Ireland are listed here.