Bogs provide breeding space for the birds

A bog in North Galway is one of a number across the country where wetland has been restored to offer breeding space to endangered birds.

Ballygar Bog is part of 685 hectares of wetland habitat across the country which has been brought back to their original state to help increase the numbers of birds from a range of threatened species, including the Curlew and Skylark.

Details of the wetland restoration project were revealed at the ‘EU LIFE – Rebuilding Ireland’s Natural Capital’ conference hosted by Coillte this week.

BirdWatch Ireland’s Senior Conservation Officer Alex Copland said that the project was already showing benefits for birds that use bog habitats.

“These include some seriously threatened species such as Curlew and Meadow Pipit – both red-listed – and Skylark, Teal and Snipe, which are amber-listed,” he said.

“As the restored habitats stabilise over time these areas should become increasingly valuable for such threatened species into the future,” he added.

Dr. Ciarán Fallon Director of Stewardship and Public Goods at Coillte said that – while the EU LIFE Nature project was coming to an end – Coillte is continuing to manage these project sites through its Biodiversity programme.

“We always encourage members of the public to witness and experience these extraordinary Irish landscapes,” he added.

Attendees at the conference were shown how the project – with sites across seven counties, including Galway – has removed planted trees, rewetted bogs and helped create the conditions for the restoration of active, peat-forming bog habitats, as well as helping to enrich the biodiversity of the landscape’s flora and fauna

The €2.1 million project, ‘Demonstrating Best Practice in Raised Bog Restoration in Ireland’, has been jointly funded by Coillte, the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht and the EU’s LIFE Nature programme, to implement best practice restoration techniques developed in previous Coillte raised bog restoration projects on its estate.

“These sites are of international ecological importance as Ireland is among the last European countries where a range of peatlands still exists, so Coillte is really proud to have led their restoration. The rewetted bogs will become a more diverse habitat for rare species of plants, insects and birds, while also creating a sink for atmospheric carbon,” said Dr Fallon.

Goodbody Economic Consultants have estimated the economic value of nature and biodiversity on the Coillte estate to be €322 million per annum highlighting the major stake that Coillte holds of Ireland’s “Natural Capital”. Coillte is the leader in bog restoration and has been involved in the restoration of over 3,200 ha of bog since 2002.