National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS)

Wicklow blanket bog, overview

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7130 is the habitat code for blanket bog

No comprehensive mapping of the SAC has been undertaken

Estimate 12.376 Ha of blanket bog in Wicklow Mountains SAC (38% of the area)

Wicklow Mountains SAC (site code 002122): Conservation objectives supporting document – blanket bogs and associated habitats (NPWS, Version 1, July 2017)

Blanket bogs occur throughout the SAC, often in association with other habitats including heath and upland acid grasslands.

Well-developed examples are present at

  • Liffey Head Bog,
  • Castlekelly Bog,
  • Shankill Bog,
  • Cloghoge Bog,
  • Ballynultagh Bog
  • Brockagh Bog.
  • large stretch from Lugnaquilla northwards towards Table Mountain, and stretching east towards Laragh

Click to access Wicklow%20Mountains%20SAC%20(002122)%20Conservation%20objectives%20supporting%20document%20-%20blanket%20bogs%20and%20associated%20habitats%20[Version%201].pdf

Click to access Blanket-Bog.pdf

Click to access Mooney_et_al_1991_Mountain_Blanket_Bog.pdf

Liffey Head Bog fire

Tender: Aerial Survey Services – Killarney National Park Aerial Survey Services (Rhododendron)

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Flights should be flown during the period of May 15th – June 10th in order to capture the peak flowering period of the invasive species Rhododendron ponticum and, in any case, no earlier than May 10th nor later than June 15th.

Imagery captured must be of sufficient resolution to identify flowering plants where they occur on open ground. Ortho-imagery with a resolution of 6-10 cm ground sample distance (GSD).

Aerial-Survey-Tender-Requirements-and-SpecificationsDownload

AIE: NPWS recent flyover / aerial monitoring photos for illegal peatland extraction in SAC/NHA flown in 2021 [Refusal]

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2021 data for the number of bog plots being cut in raised bogs in Special Area of Conservation (SACs) and Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs)

How the number of plots cut is related to Ha / volume of peat extracted in each SAC/NHA

Any NPWS or 3rd party analysis conducted on or from the data collected, or reports produced from this data

Most recent flyover / aerial monitoring photos for each SAC/NHA flown in 2021

aie-009-glover-decision-letterDownload
schedule-of-recordsDownload
aie-plot-cutting-2021Download

Peatlands Climate Action Scheme (PCAS) Reporting to NPWS

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Bord na Móna produced their first quarterly report for the Enhanced Decommissioning Rehabilitation and Restoration Scheme EDRRS (called PCAS by Bord an Móna) for the period April – Jun 2021.

Since then, Bord na Móna have produced quarterly reports for the periods Jul-Sept 2021 and Oct-Dec 2021.

These reports have not been published to date.

Pre AIE request for reports submitted to NPWS via Adele Shelton, Assistant Principal Officer, Peatlands Conservation and Restoration (8/3/22)

AIE submitted 8/3/22

Protected Raised Bog Restoration Incentive Scheme

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The objective of this scheme is to incentivise landowners and turbary right holders through offering compensation to have their plots restored.


Restoration will involve inserting peat and/or plastic dams to block drains (predominately on the high bog) and/or installing trench or cell bunding which will raise the water table within the peat at the location of the drains. When the water table is maintained within 10cm of the surface the conditions are suitable for raised bog habitat to develop within these areas.

Q: how are turbary right holders confirmed for this or other related schemes?

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/i-own-acres-of-bog-but-how-can-i-prove-it-1.4135002

prbris-terms-and-conditions-englishDownload

EPA investigation into turf cutting on SACs

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The Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] has accepted a complaint from a conservation charity under the Environmental Liability Directive [ELD] and is undertaking an investigation into turf cutting on Ireland’s raised bog Special Areas of Conservation.

Click to access ELD_Submission_SAC_Peat_80921.pdf

https://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org/press-releases/18129-epa-commences-investigation-of-turf-cutters-in-sacs