Community Peatlands initiatives to benefit from €500k scheme

Community Peatlands initiatives to benefit from €500k scheme

Community Peatlands initiatives to benefit from €500k scheme

  • Grant funding doubled by Minister Noonan
  • 25 projects benefited last year

Community projects on bogs and peatlands all over the country are being encouraged to apply for up to half a million euro in community engagement funding from the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan T.D., recently announced that applications are open for the Peatlands Community Engagement Scheme for 2022.

This is a competitive scheme administered by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage with a total fund of €500,000 available in 2022 – the largest allocation of funding to date, and double the allocation of 2021.

The scheme seeks to encourage local peatland communities, local groups, local schools and interested parties to engage in the conservation and revitalisation of raised and blanket bogs, particularly protected bogs, and fens and to promote public engagement with and awareness of our natural heritage and environment.

Applications are now invited for a diverse range of peatland initiatives with a community benefit from events, education programmes, conservation management plans, restoration measures, feasibility studies, public amenity and recreational projects to invasive species and fire control measures. Applicants with an interest in local history and awareness of the importance of peatlands are being encouraged to apply. It is also hoped that schools will apply for funding. Last year, an Offaly School received €20,000 to reinstate a boardwalk on a local raised bog.

The Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan T.D., commented:

“I’m delighted to announce the largest allocation of funding to date for this scheme. This year, for the first time, projects relating to fens are eligible for funding as well as raised and blanket bog areas. Ireland’s peatlands which include raised bogs, blanket bogs or fens are special and unique places and play an important role in contributing to our biodiversity, sense of place and well-being. I thank the community groups who have participated in this scheme so far and encourage all schools, peatland community and voluntary groups to check out the funding available this year.”

25 projects qualified for funding in 2021. Some of the projects that received funding include:

  • Connolly Tidy Villages, Co. Clare received €5,144 to continue the development of its bog walk, including erecting a birdwatch hut and signage, the removal of Japanese Knotweed from the looped bog walk and raise awareness by holding bog walks during the year.
  • St. Brendan’s Community School, Co. Offaly, €20,000 to replace an existing wooden trackway which was previously installed by students with a recycled plastic one at Killaun Bog looped walk.
  • Galway’s Living Bog, Mountbellew, Co Galway received €20,000 for a looped bog walkway and interpretive facilities at a community building close to Carrownagappul Bog SAC.
  • Birdwatch Ireland, Co. Wicklow received €10,000 to undertake an assessment of breeding birds on raised bog Special Area of Conservation sites in the midlands (Ferbane Bog SAC, Mongan Bog SAC, Moyclare Bog SAC, Ardagullion Bog SAC and Killyconny Bog SAC), which were part of the EU LIFE programme funded ‘Living Bog’ Project. From the survey findings a video was produced on the breeding birds on each site and a scientific paper undertaken on the breeding birds of these raised bogs.
  • The award-winning Kilteevan Tidy Towns Group in Co. Roscommon, received €3,500.00 to publish Cloonlarge Loop Walk Biodiversity Calendar 2022.

Successful applicants of 2022 funding will be awarded funding to support a maximum of 75% of the project eligible costs with a maximum grant of €25,000. Further details of the scheme are available at www.npws.ie.

Ends

Note for Editor

Details of the Terms and Conditions of the Scheme and Application Form needed to apply are available at this link: https://www.npws.ie/peatlands-and-turf-cutting/peatlands-community-engagement-scheme-funding-2022

Closing date for submission of applications is 4pm, Friday, 11 February 2022

January 20, 2022

CODE OF PRACTICE REQUIRED FOR BORD NA MONA PROJECT

CODE OF PRACTICE REQUIRED FOR BORD NA MONA PROJECT

IFA Deputy President Brian Rushe has acknowledged the statement sent to IFA by Bord na Móna yesterday.

However, he said the statement does not go far enough.

“What we need is a Code of Practice agreed between Bord na Móna and IFA,” he said.

“This is a huge project receiving over €100m in state support. It is vital that there is an agreed Code about how the work will be carried out and what processes there are if issues arise,” he said.

Bord na Móna has also issued a detailed document to IFA setting out responses to over 50 questions we posed following our public meeting in February.

These can be found on the IFA website at https://www.ifa.ie/rewetting-bogs-a-farmer-discussion/.

Ends.

April 27, 2021

HORTICULTURAL PEAT HARVESTING MUST RESUME IMMEDIATELY

HORTICULTURAL PEAT HARVESTING MUST RESUME IMMEDIATELY

Ahead of the first meeting of the Peat Consultation group taking place, IFA Horticulture Chairman Paul Brophy said the priority of the consultation group must be the resumption of the harvesting of horticultural peat immediately.

The Irish horticulture sector is a significant contributor to the Irish economy, with a farm gate value of €437 million. It employs an estimated 6,600 people, while a further 11,000 are employed in downstream businesses.

Paul Brophy recently addressed the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture meeting and called for the urgent introduction of new legislation to allow horticultural peat harvesting to resume.

“It’s very contradictory of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Action to recommend the expansion of the horticulture sector to avail of opportunities for import substitution and farm diversification, while the native raw material is being reduced,” he said.

Paul Brophy stressed that there is no viable alternative to peat in sections of the commercial horticulture sector.

As a major segment of the Irish horticulture sector relies on peat, particularly the mushroom and ornamental sectors, the ending of peat harvesting will have a negative impact.

“Producers will either have to close their business or import peat, which would add extra cost to their business. In the current market environment, it would be impossible to retrieve these costs from the market. This would also have adverse knock-on effects for the tillage, poultry and forestry sectors, resulting in a considerable blow to the rural economy.”

March 9, 2021

BOG REWETTING MEETING

BOG REWETTING MEETING

The IFA and Bord na Móna Working Group held their first virtual meeting on the Peatland Climate Action Scheme last week.

IFA Countryside Chairman Brian Rushe said it was a positive first meeting of the group.

He said, “I  look forward to working closely with Bord na Móna over the next four years as the Peatland Climate Action Scheme rehabilitation works get underway in the 82 bogs identified”.“The scale of the project is ambitious, and the timeline for implementation short, particularly in light of the current COVID-19 restrictions. This limits opportunities for local farmers and communities to engage with the process fully,” said Mr Rushe.

At the meeting, Bord na Móna gave a presentation on the Peatland Climate Action Scheme, which provided insight into the planning process, hydrological assessments, and the management of previous rehabilitation projects.

The IFA Countryside Chairman said, “It was beneficial to receive detailed information about the scheme but that many questions remained unanswered. Farmers have significant concerns. Bord na Móna must address them”.

During the meeting, it was agreed that Bord na Móna  would:

  • Provide written responses to the questions asked by farmers from the Q&A session at the recent IFA meeting on Bog Rewetting,
  • Give an overview of the hydrological assessment, including the procedures for estimating and predicting water on a specific site.

The Working Group will meet again in late March to continue to review the implementation of the Peatland Climate Action Scheme, particularly in the 19 bogs proposed for rehabilitation in 2021.

 

 

February 24, 2021