Strategic FrameworkforFuture Use of Peatlands

Presentation to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

13 May 2014

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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:• 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

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77%

8%

15%

Existing Land Use

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Production related lands

Oweninny, Co Mayo

Other – Wind Energy, Biodiversity, Amenity/Tourism, Forestry, etc.

Background considerations • 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.

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Framework for the Future use of Peatlands

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Nature ofCutaway

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Location &Infrastructure

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Timeframe forPeat Extraction

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Economics

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National &Regional Needs

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LocalConsiderations

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Legislation &Regulation

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Land Use PlanningPolicies

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KEY FINDINGS

PRINCIPLES

OUTCOMES

Land Use Review System Provides for continuous review, assessment andmodification over time

Bord na Mona Land Use Strategy

• 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.

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Land Use and Biodiversity

• 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

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Land Use Options and some current examples

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Wind Energy

Amenity and Tourism

High Value Biodiversity

Industry and Infrastructure

Forestry

Mountlucas and Bruckana windfarms

Lough Boora Discovery Park, Co OffalyCommunity Projects

Drehid Resource Recovery Park , Co KildareDerryarkin Sand and Gravel Ltd

Significant areas leased to Coillte

Clonboley Bog GroupKilleglan Bog Group

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Appendix

Ecosystem Services and Bog Restoration Projects

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Dry calcareous grassland

Birch scrub

Heather Soft Rush Birch scrub

MarshArrowgrass

Bog Cotton

Bottle Sedge

Reedmace

Baseline ecology survey of cutaway – informing rehabilitation and rewetting potential

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Mapping

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Bord na Mona Bog Restoration 2009-2014

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Carbon MeasurementRehabilitated Mayo bogs: carbon sink

Reed-beds: carbon sink?

Are we creating carbon sources or sinks?

Cutaway Bog habitats: birch scrub to open water

Restoration of Moyarwood bog: carbon store and

sink?

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