Bog of Allen Survey

Caroline Hurley, Conservation Officer with the Irish Peatland Conservation Council describes the survey underway of the Bog of Allen.

The Bog of Allen is an important area of peatland, as much a part of Irish natural heritage as the Book of Kells. Unfortunately, the Bog of Allen has been and continues to be exploited and developed. It has been greatly altered over the past four hundred years from activities such as turf cutting, agricultural reclamation and large-scale mechanical exploitation, together with the encroachment of residential and infrastructure developments.

However, there remain some important sites within the historical extent of the Bog of Allen, which retain some semblance of how it may once have appeared. These include the internationally recognised conservation areas of Mouds Bog (SAC 395) and Pollardstown Fen (SAC 396). But are there other areas we don't know of? Are there havens of peat moss (Sphagnum species), bog cotton (Eriophorum species) and bog asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum) just waiting to be discovered and recorded?
The Irish Peatland Conservation Council are undertaking a field survey to determine where peatland habitats of conservation importance remain. Many of the abandoned turf cutting areas may now support secondary habitats such as fen, regenerating bog and woodland. There may also be areas which could serve as wildlife corridors between the existing but fragmented network of designated sites.

The survey will cover the area within a 13km radius of the IPCC headquarters at the Bog of Allen Nature Centre on the mineral soil island of Lullymore.

The information collected in the Bog of Allen Survey will be published later this year in a special report. The information gained from the survey will be used:

* to identify previously unrecorded sites of bog, fen and bog woodland which have a wildlife and conservation value
* to identify wildlife corridors between already recognised Special Areas of Conservation and Natural Heritage Areas.
* to identify new breeding colonies of the endangered Marsh Fritillary butterfly
* to highlight and publicise the threats to the Bog of Allen
* to document important peatland archaeological sites threatened by industrial peat harvesting
* to give constructive feedback and recommendations to local authorities, the guardians of the landscape and controllers of development
* to encourage the National Parks and Wildlife Service to undertake a complete inventory of the Bog of Allen
* to make a photographic and information database on all heritage sites in the Bog of Allen study area which will be on view in the Peatland Library at the Bog of Allen Nature Centre
* to document the results in a report and publicise the value of the Bog of Allen.
* to develop an educational programme for the local community living in the Bog of Allen

Acknowledgements
The Heritage Council, Patagonia Fund, Offaly County Council and the Leinster Leader are kindly supporting the survey, but the costs involved in carrying out the survey, compiling maps and publishing the report are quite large and more funds are needed. If you can help to fund this important survey, or know of anyone who might be able to do so, please contact Caroline Hurley, the Conservation Officer with IPCC.

Caroline Hurley, Conservation Officer, IPCC

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Pictures of the Volunteers and the Project Centre

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