P r e s s R e l e a s e

There ought to be a law against it

For immediate release 1 July 1995

Substantial areas on five of the best peatland heritage areas in Donegal have undergone development this Summer resulting in the sites loosing part or all of their conservation value. The range of damaging activitives include forestry, turf cutting, fencing, dumping and the construction of a dam causing flooding of one site.

Only last year the OPW published extensive lists of National Heritage Areas for the county and all known owners were informed whether their land had been designated. In spite of this five sites have already been partly developed, an activity which the County Council and OPW seem to be unable to prevent (see note 2).

Developers are being given a free hand in Donegal to destroy wetland habitats that they know are endangered through out Europe and are of significant conservation importance.

As Peter Foss, Chairman of IPCC (see note 1) says "we have asked the European Union to step in and prevent an escalation of this disaster, by forcing the Department of Arts, Culture and Gaeltacht, the Department of the Environment and the OPW to enact protective legislation immediately. We are completely bogged down by the lack of adequate planning controls and legislative instruments to put a stop to these developments which are plundering the heritage of the county".

The inability of the state conservation and environmental agencies to act to protect bogs hinges on the lack of a revised Wildlife Act that would formally recognise the conservation value of Natural Heritage Areas - which at the moment have no legal status.

In addition the Environmnetal Impact Assessment Directive has not been able to halt damaging developments on any of these sites because the thresholds set for forestry, turbary and drainage developments are too high to prevent all but the largest industrial schemes.

"So while we argue over the finer points of various legislation - the countryside is being plundered by developers - and part of our heritage is being lost forever" says Dr. Foss

EDITOR'S NOTE 1: The Irish Peatland Conservation Council is a national charity and is entirely supported by voluntary contributions. Conservation projects include: purchasing bogland nature reserves, providing resources and training for teachers and education groups, repairing damaged bogs, fostering a positive attitude towards bogs, and encouraging lifestyles in harmony with the environment. The IPCC can be contacted at: Capel Chambers, 119 Capel Street, Dublin 1. Tel: 01-872 2397. Registered Charity Number: CHY6829

EDITOR'S NOTE 2:

Peatland Sites Damaged in County Donegal 1995

Cloghernagore NHA Number- 2047 - Large scale dumping, some turbary & fencing possibly for forestry scheme.

Dunragh Loughs/ Pettigo Plateau NHA Number- 1125 Forest scheme, covering an area of 1 mile by 0.5 mile.

Tullytresna NHA Number- 1870 Forest scheme.

Tamur Bog NHA Number- 1992 Large forest scheme, may exceed 200 ha. threshold for Impact Assessment.

Enishbreedy Bog NHA Number- 1127 Dam construction and flooding of site

The work of the Irish Peatland Conservation Council is supported by the FÁS Community Employment Program.

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