Glenveagh National Park rewilding sets a new benchmark
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In 2001, Glenveagh National Park in County Donegal was the scene for, what was then, arguably the most ambitious nature restoration projects ever to have taken place in Ireland. The release of golden eagles marked not only the return of a species that had been driven to extinction from Irish skies over a century before, but the return of apex predators to the Irish ecosystem.
Things have not gone terribly well for the golden eagles. It quickly became apparent that the landscape, not only in Glenveagh but in the wider Donegal uplands, had become so degraded that it could not support sufficient prey for the birds, hares and red grouse mostly. To this day, they have not managed to extend their range into neighbouring counties, which would have been expected by now had the birds’ breeding success been higher. Still, they’re holding on. According to the Golden Eagle Trust, in 2024 there were eight territories but only half of these nests produced chicks.
Another endangered bird is the ring ouzel, near identical to a common blackbird except for its distinctive white bib. It was once widespread in the hills but numbers are down to a single breeding pair in one corner of Glenveagh.
However, the news from Donegal is not all bad.
Earlier this year, following a visit to the park, Minister of State for Nature, Malcom Noonan, launched what he described as “one of the most ambitious nature restoration projects in the history of the State”.
More detail has emerged with the publication of a ‘woodland management strategy’, a detailed and ambitious project that aims to regenerate and restore up to 1,000 hectares of native Atlantic rainforest over the next 100 years. In August, I went to Glenveagh to find out more and management staff from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) were on hand to show me around.
What NPWS refers to in its plan as the ‘focus area’ is the valley of Lough Veagh (the name derives from the Irish word for birch tree, beithe). It is the place most visitors will be familiar with in the park, as it is a long and dramatic, steep-sided valley with a road or footpath nearly all the way through it. One side of the valley has a broad band of old oak forest but, apart from this, it is obvious that most of it is denuded of trees. However, on close inspection, that is changing and the eagle-eyed will notice the proliferation of germinating saplings.
Under normal circumstances the establishment of new forest is accompanied by planting rows of saplings in grid formation, with pre-determined proportions and densities of particular species. These would be protected from grazing animals either with plastic tubes or behind animal-proof fencing. The NPWS is taking a different approach. Instead, the focus will be on reducing the number of wild deer (sheep and other domestic animals are not a major issue in Glenveagh, unlike other national parks). Experimental plots have been mapped; the success of deer culling will be measured by the ability of self-seeded trees to become established and grow to a height where grazing will not affect them. In this way, not only will nature decide where and how many trees get to grow, but deer will remain as part of the ecosystem. This is radically different to how the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture goes about forest creation.
Tree planting will remain part of the plan and a dedicated nursery has been established on site to grow oaks and birches as well some of the rarer species, such as yew, juniper and aspen, as well as introducing Scots pine from seedlings in the Burren in Clare, which is the only truly native stand of this tree known in Ireland. However, planting, if deemed necessary, will be at a low density.
The plan acknowledges that many of Ireland’s top predators, which would under natural conditions control the deer population — wolves, lynx and bears — are absent. It does not propose reintroducing them (an argument that needs to take place at an island-wide level) but it does envisage leaving the carcasses of deer on the hills to rot or be scavenged. This will benefit the golden eagles, as will reducing the grazing pressure, as bushier heather and bilberry will provide cover for hares and red grouse. Carcasses also provide food for invertebrates and so are good for animals that need invertebrate food, such as smaller birds.
Invasive species have been a problem in Glenveagh with rhododendron being a particular issue. However, on the day of my visit I could see where extensive swathes of the plant have been effectively knocked back, even on high and difficult-to-access slopes. Work is being carried out by private contractors and, while total eradication will be a long road, the plan includes continuous monitoring to control re-emergence. Other invasive plants are also being tacked. The success in Glenveagh in recent years begs the question as to why it can’t be done elsewhere, most notably in Killarney.
Before leaving, I spoke to local ornithologist, Robert Vaughan, who has been trying valiantly to highlight the critical situation with the ring ouzel. He told me that the publication of a plan for the woodland was news to him and that he feels communication with local people has been poor. He thinks it’s too late to save the ring ouzel but that reducing the grazing will benefit the ecology more widely, including rare birds such as golden plover, which still nest on the bogs. He also feels the plan needs to be more ambitious as it only covers a fraction of the 16,000-hectare extent of the park.
There’s no doubt that greater ambition is needed, not just in Glenveagh but across Ireland. Indeed, the plan has not yet been fully resourced, so success is not guaranteed. Nevertheless, the NPWS has broken a barrier with this strategy and it shows an ambition that has been rarely glimpsed by the agency in the past. The lessons for rewilding on this scale will have far reaching implications for reafforestation across the country and once again puts this corner of Donegal in the vanguard for the coming decade of nature restoration.