Strategic Framework
for
Future Use of Peatlands
Presentation to the Joint Oireachtas
Committee on Agriculture, Food and
the Marine
13 May 2014
1
Current Status of Bord na Mona ‘Land’ Bank
•
Total area approximately 80,000
hectares
•
Predominantly bog – not mineral land,
even when cutaway
•
Approximately 130 bogs of various
sizes
•
Mainly concentrated in Midlands
•
Peat areas characterised by:
•
•
•
•
2
Scale, complexity and fragmentation
Natural, living environments with
capacity to re-vegetate
Varied depths of peat remaining after
cessation of extraction
Much of area would flood naturally
Existing Land Use
15%
8%
77%
Production related lands
Oweninny, Co Mayo
Other – Wind Energy, Biodiversity, Amenity/Tourism, Forestry, etc.
3
Background considerations
4
•
Peatlands originally seen as wastelands with potential to be drained for
agricultural use
•
Value for industrial development for fuel and horticultural media
recognised in late 19th and early 20th centuries – subsequently developed
on industrial scale
•
Land use potential of cutaway originally seen as highly promising –
agriculture, horticulture, forestry, etc. – and was thought to be relatively
easy to realize
•
Reality is more complex – extensive trials over many decades have shown
that economic as well as technical difficulties render use for agriculture
and horticulture realistically unviable and potential for forestry is limited
•
Recently, there has been a huge growth in recognition of the biodiversity
value of peatlands
•
Cutaway bogs present a range of complex issues that require to be
considered on a bog-by-bog basis.
Framework for the Future use of Peatlands
4
5
Economics
National &
Regional Needs
3
6
Timeframe for
Peat Extraction
Legislation &
Regulation
KEY FINDINGS
PRINCIPLES
2
7
OUTCOMES
Location &
Infrastructure
5
Land Use Planning
Policies
1
8
Nature of
Cutaway
Local
Considerations
Land Use Review System
Provides for continuous
review, assessment and
modification over time
Bord na Mona Land Use Strategy
6
•
The objective of Bord na Móna is to balance and optimise the commercial, social
and environmental value of its peatland resources
•
Bord na Móna will actively pursue the full potential of its land bank for a variety
of appropriate future land uses.
•
The land bank will be developed with regard to commercial benefits and the
national interest
•
Bord na Móna will actively interact with other policy making bodies, such as the
regional and local authorities, environmental bodies, etc.
•
Cutaway bogs present a range of complex options that require to be considered
on a bog-by-bog basis.
Land Use and Biodiversity
7
•
Biodiversity is increasingly important nationally and internationally and must have a
high priority in considering future land uses
•
Biodiversity provides a contribution to wealth and health through ecosystem
services and consequently has economic value
•
Lands identified as having high biodiversity value and/or priority habitats will be
reserved for that purpose as the principal future land use
•
Some level of remediation (rehabilitation and/or development) with consequent cost
is required for all future land uses.
•
Many of the options are compatible and can be co-located, e.g. wind energy /
amenity / water storage / biodiversity
Land Use Options and some current examples
Wind Energy
 Mountlucas and Bruckana
windfarms
Amenity and Tourism
Lough Boora Discovery
Park, Co Offaly
Community Projects
High Value Biodiversity
Clonboley Bog Group
Killeglan Bog Group
Industry and
Infrastructure
Forestry
8
Drehid Resource Recovery Park ,
Co Kildare
Derryarkin Sand and Gravel Ltd
Significant areas leased to
Coillte
9
Appendix
Ecosystem Services and Bog
Restoration Projects
10
Dry calcareous
grassland
Baseline ecology survey of cutaway –
informing rehabilitation and rewetting potential
Reedmace
Birch scrub
Heather
Soft Rush
Birch scrub
Marsh
Arrowgrass
Bog
Cotton
11
11
Bottle Sedge
Mapping
11
12
13
13
Bord na Mona Bog Restoration 20092014
14
Carbon Measurement
Rehabilitated Mayo
bogs: carbon sink
Restoration of
Moyarwood bog:
carbon store and
sink?
Cutaway Bog habitats:
birch scrub to open
water
Are we creating
carbon sources
or sinks?
15
Reed-beds:
carbon sink?