Petition of support for the conservation of Irish Raised Bogs
- by: Irish Peatland Conservation Council. Visit us on www.ipcc.ie and on facebook
- recipient: Minister for the Environment, Heritage & Local Government
The Irish Peatland Conservation Council are urging the recently elected Irish Government to continue to work towards a ban on turf cutting on peatlands of European conservation importance in the country. Ireland is one of the last remaining refuges for peatland habitats which have been decimated across the globe due to exploitation. Ireland supports 50% of Europe's peatlands because our country did not go through an industrial revolution, so while mainland Europe and the UK were using machines to develop their bogs, Ireland was still using the traditional hand cutting instrument known as the slean. Now however the slean has been replaced by machines and the active raised bog that remains in Ireland is seriously under threat. Out of an original area of 308,742ha of active raised bog only 0.6% is active today. There is scientific proof that turf cutting is destroying what is left of our peatlands of conservation importance. This means that turf cutting must be stopped immediately. This precious habitat needs your support if we are to ensure its survival for generations to come.
The idea of stopping turf cutting has been on the agenda since 1999 when the elected Government at the time made an international commitment to save the last of our peatlands. They issued a 10 year derogation which allowed people to cut turf on 31 of Ireland's raised bogs of conservation importance known as Special Areas of Conservation, SACs. This ended in 2009. Turf cutters mounted a campaign against the move which convinced the Government to give them one more year while negotiations of a new compensation package between all stakeholders got underway. Now turf cutters are putting the new Government under pressure to go against its scientific advisors and conservationist staff so as to allow them to cut turf indefinitely. By 2014 the goal was to protect 130 out of 1500 peatlands that remain in the country. This would represent less than 10% of the area of this peatland habitat type in Ireland leaving almost 200,000 hectares where peat extraction is permitted to continue. Monetary compensation and provision of a plot of equivalent size outside the SAC were put on the table and in many cases taken up.
Now however the new Programme for Government intends to remove the ban on turf cutting and open these bogs up for harvesting again. We cannot allow this to happen and with your help we can put pressure on the new Minister for the Environment to ensure the survival of this unique habitat. It will be an uphill struggle but with your signature we can remind him that there are also many people who support nature conservation in Ireland.
We the undersigned wish to highlight the need for the complete cessation of turf cutting on raised bogs of conservation importance in Ireland without delay. This is an action of the Habitats Directive adopted in 1997 by the last Fine Gael/Labour coalition Government.
The state has a legal obligation under both the European Union Habitats Directive and the Wildlife Acts to protect sites which have been designated for the purpose of conservation. A number of raised bog sites have been designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs). These cover less than 10% of the original area of this habitat type in the Republic of Ireland.
However your program for Government outlines plans on the issue of peat extraction as follows;
"We will allow an exemption for domestic turf cutting on 75 National Heritage Areas subject to the introduction of an agreed national code of environmental practices.
We will establish an independent mediation between all relevant stakeholders with the specific objective of facilitating resolution to 55 Special Areas of Conservation designated bogs."
These changes have the potential to set nature conservation in Ireland back 30 years and are a disgrace for any national Government to promote. What's more this policy completely ignores all of the Government scientific research which taxpayers have funded over the last 10 years and which prove that turf cutting destroys peatland habitats and their wildlife.
Furthermore this policy ignores the fact that the EU paid up to 75% of the purchase cost of over 2,000 hectares of raised bog SACs which was given on the understanding that these areas would be protected as part of an EU-wide network of nature conservation sites.
This policy can only be regarded as illegal as it contravenes the provisions of the EU Habitats Directive and the Wildlife Acts (1979 & 2000). The legislation was adopted in order to save a representative portion of Ireland%u2019s raised bogs which are viewed as some of the finest examples of raised bog habitat in the world. Failure to protect raised bogs would render the State liable to significant financial fines imposed by the European Court of Justice.
In light of the above you must change this policy which is set to make Ireland an enemy of nature conservation in Europe by driving our remaining raised bogs to extinction. You must accept the evidence that conserving raised bogs is not compatible with turf extraction. Can you not balance conserving 30,000 hectares of raised bog in a country where there is still 200,000 hectares available to people to cut turf without destroying our heritage. We strongly urge you to keep the ban on turf cutting in place until such time as the results of the "independent mediation" you propose in your Programme for Government reports back.
We would be happy to assist you in devising a new strategy which presents a balanced and fair approach to conserving raised bogs for the benefit of Ireland's people and to participate in stakeholder meetings. We would be very anxious to receive your prompt response to this letter.
Time is running out for the opportunity to save our raised bogs and as you can see is a concern of many people throughout the world.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.
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