Irish referral to ECJ over protection of bogs could reignite turf wars
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The European Commission’s decision to refer Ireland to the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) for not doing enough to protect our bogs could reignite turf wars here.
That was the warning from Roscommon-Galway TD, Michael Fitzmaurice, chairperson of the Turf Cutters and Contractors Association (TCCA), expressed outraged at the move and said it has “obliterated years of progress” made through negotiation and consultation between the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and domestic turfcutters and contractors.
He said the TCCA executive is due to meet within days to assess their next steps, which he said will include considering the withdrawal of cooperation in relation to the re-wetting of lands and whether to resume dialogue with the NPWS.
“This decision creates the serious risk that we will see a complete breakdown in co-operation between stakeholders domestically, and may very well see a return to tensions on Irish bogs which in recent years had been defused,” he said.
“The EU has once again shown that it is out of touch with reality and is more interested in using a hammer to crack this nut than diplomacy - which is my book is the mark of a bully.”
It follows confirmation from the European Commission on Wednesday that 13 years after it first began engaging with the state on the bogs issue, it has now referred Ireland to the ECJ for its alleged failure to protect sites designated for raised bog and blanket bog habitats from turf cutting.
The commission said bogs in these Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) continue to be degraded through drainage and turf-cutting activities, and insufficient action is being taken to restore the sites.
“For instance, whilst some restoration work has been undertaken on raised bog sites, no action has been taken regarding blanket bog sites where Ireland has failed to put in place an effective regulatory regime to protect these unique bog sites,” it said.
Tristram Whyte, the conservation, policy, and fundraising officer with the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, welcomed the decision.
“It reflects what we and other environmental NGOs have been saying for some time – the state just isn't moving fast enough on this issue.
“There has been some progress on raised bogs but the blanket bogs have been left to degrade further."
In a statement, the Department of Housing and Local Government said Ireland stands ready to defend its position, and outlined the progress it has made over the last decade, including a complete cessation of turf-cutting on almost 80% of the raised bog SACs since 2011 and
a reduction of almost 40% on 2022 turf cutting levels in 2023 on raised bogs.
"Further reductions are expected this year as a result of discussions ongoing presently with turf-cutting contractors and their representatives. This is a site-by-site and season-by-season endeavour and huge progress is being made by negotiation and agreement," a spokesman said.
It said almost 3,000 applicants have received turf-cutting compensation payments and a ramp-up of the peatlands restoration programme on both the raised and blanket bog SAC network is underway with hugely significant acreage under active restoration.
Bogs are biodiversity hotspots and are categorised as "priority" habitats under the EU’s Habitats Directive – a directive that requires member states to protect these sites from harmful activities.
They are also vital carbon sinks when healthy.
A UN report has estimated that Ireland's degraded peatlands emit 21.5m tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.