Irish Fen Inventory -

We urgently need your help to Identify Ireland's Fenlands

24 May 2000

Dear Supporter,

The Irish Peatland Conservation Council is leading a campaign for the conservation of fen habitats in Ireland. The full extent of these unique habitats is still unknown as there has never been a national survey.

The IPCC needs your help to compile an up to date list of fenland sites worthy of conservation and to ensure important areas are not being overlooked. This inventory will be included in a conservation strategy for fens to be published at the end of this year and submitted to Government. In addition the inventory will be published in the IPCC Peatland Conservation Plan 2001-2005. All contributors will be acknowledged for assistance provided.

I would like you to examine the different fen categories the IPCC are collecting data on, in the table attached. We are also providing a list of fen sites currently held in our database.

Are you aware of any conservation worthy fens that fit in one of the categories and which do not appear on our database list? If you know of a conservation worthy site I would appreciate if you could complete the attached site record sheet and return it to me (copy extra forms if necessary) by June 31 or you can submit data via the internet at http://indigo.ie/~ipcc.

The overall aim of the fen campaign is to call for a national survey of fens and the setting of conservation targets for these important wetland types. The project is being supported by The Heritage Council.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this survey further, please call me at IPCC on 01-8722397 during office hours. Thank you for your help.

Yours sincerely,

Patrick Crushell MSc
Conservation Officer, IPCC

Further Information and Getting Involved

Find out more about fens, the rare species found in them. You can find more background information on fens in Ireland here.

When you have learned more about these habitats, why they are important and the rich wildlidfe they contain - and would like to support our campaign to see more of the fenlands and their wildlife protected - you can support the campaign further here.

Or you can take part in our national Fen Inventory Project to identify all the important sites in Ireland that should be conserved. You can find out more about the survey, the fen types we are looking for and get a survey form here.

Irish Peatland Conservation Council Registered Charity Number CHY6829