Donal Hickey: With a sliver of opportunity and a helping hand, life finds a way
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A new deal between the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Coillte to restore nature is another step on the long, slow road towards reaching our EU-set targets.
Under EU law, 30% of habitats here, including forestry, bogs, rivers and lakes, must rise from ‘poor’ to ‘good’ condition by 2030. The goal is to hit 90% by 2050.
All of which might seem fanciful — and environmentalists are sceptical — but the hope is that co-operation between these two organisations will deliver positive conservation results.
The focus will be on protected habitats such as raised and blanket bog, heaths and wetlands, lakes and rivers, and on threatened species such as freshwater pearl mussel, hen harrier, merlin, and breeding waders. The first project, in the Slieve Bloom mountains, will target the endangered hen harrier.
Announcing the deal, Nature Minister and Green TD Malcolm Noonan said bringing together two of the largest landowners in the country was a "huge opportunity to restore nature at scale across Ireland".
Coillte chief executive, Imelda Hurley, said their ambition is to increase the area of their land managed primarily for nature from 20% to 30% by 2025. They aim to have 50% managed primarily for nature in the long-term.
Engaged in industrial-scale turfcutting since the 1930s, Bord na Móna is obliged by the EPA to engage in bog rehabilitation and is doing so.
Public land covers around 11% of land in the State, with 1% owned by Bord na Móna and 9% public forestry, mainly Coillte. Fintan Kelly, Irish Environmental Network policy officer, believes the untapped potential of these lands offers an unprecedented opportunity to restore nature at scale.
“At a time when we are asking more and more of private landowners it is critically important that the State is seen to lead from the front," he said.
“Public land must be utilised in the public interest and the Irish people should have a greater say in how that is achieved."
Traditionally, forestry has been about planting on peatland and on non-productive farming land. In EU terms, we have one of the highest levels of forest area dominated by introduced tree species. The view today is that we should be planting far more native trees and not on peatland.
With a little help, nature can heal itself. A notable example is the fledging of common crane chicks, in County Offaly, during the last two summers, after an absence of hundreds of years. Likewise, there’s the return of the common buzzard and great spotted woodpecker.
”This conservation marvel demonstrates that, given a sliver of opportunity and sometimes a helping hand, life will find a way," Mr Kelly states.