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Dutch help create new bog nature reserve

For Release 5th November 1999

Today the Irish Peatland Conservation Council and its Friends of the Bog celebrate the declaration of Clochar na gCon Bog in Galway as a Nature Reserve.

The 1,274ha bog was purchased for conservation with funds raised in Ireland and the Netherlands in 1996. It is being presented as a gift to the people of Ireland by the IPCC and the Dutch Foundation for the Conservation of Irish Bogs.

This remarkable bog contains 200 species of wild bird, plant and animal. A new species of bug to Ireland called Psallus confusus was recently discovered there by Dutch scientists.

Clochar na gCon is a natural wonderland of bog, lake, stream, dwarf oak woodland and heathland. There is evidence of human habitation on the bog in the distant past.

This blanket bog area has escaped turf cutting and afforestation and is very much as it was 5,000 years ago.

In the future Clochar na gCon bog will play an important role in maintaining the natural heritage and character of the Cois Fharraige region of Conamara which is enjoyed by thousands of visitors every year.

The establishment of Clochar na gCon as a Nature Reserve was announced by An tUasal Éamon O Cuív TD in Inverin today.

Beidh an portach mar áis suaimhnis, oideachais, cultúrtha agus timpeallachta do phobal an cheantair agus cuairteoirí araon.

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