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June 26, 2008

Volunteer for Restoration of Raised Bogs

Help protect the cultural identity of Ireland

Irish Peatland Conservation CouncilIf people feel the need to work in the bog this summer why not switch from cutting turf and help block drains on our damaged raised bog sites so as to restore their hydrology. Active raised bogs (peat forming raised bogs) are seriously under threat of extinction in Ireland. Only 0.6% of active raised bog remains today. In the last ten years over a third of active raised bog (1,000ha) has been lost as a direct result of turf cutting taking place within protected peatlands. Faced with the extinction of active raised bog in Ireland state bodies such as the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Coillte have begun to carry out restoration work on damaged raised bogs with the aim of restoring the bogs to actively form peat again.

The most important task to carry out when restoring a peatland is the blocking of drains. This raises the water table and prevents the bog surface from drying out. The waterlogged substrate is poor in oxygen, which makes it very difficult for bacteria and fungi to survive. With the absence to these micro-organisms the dead plant material on the bog surface is not decomposed and accumulates in the waterlogged conditions as peat. Once this accumulation of peat begins the bog has been restored to an actively peat forming habitat.

NPWS have been developing drain-blocking techniques on protected raised bogs over the last twenty years in collaboration with Dutch scientists. However, large-scale restoration cannot take place on protected sites until all turf cutting has ceased. The action of cutting turf opens up new drains on the bog and prevents the restoration of the site as a whole hydrological unit. Coillte, the state-owned forestry service, has also been carrying restoration projects on raised bogs that were planted with trees in the past. This restoration work involved the removal of conifer forestry from the bog and the blocking of drains.

The Irish Peatland Conservation Council  have been carrying out restoration works on Lodge Bog in County Kildare over the last two years and are continuing the restoration work this summer. Volunteers are welcome to participate in drain blocking and vegetation mapping, please contact IPCC at Tel: (045) 860133. If people feel the need to work in the bog this summer why not switch from cutting turf and help block drains on our damaged raised bog sites so as to restore their hydrology. This would be a positive contribution to the conservation and restoration of raised bogs in Ireland, which are an integral part of the cultural and green identity of Ireland and need to be preserved for present and future generations. It is of vital importance that all turf cutting in protected raised bogs ceases immediately if we are to save active raised bog in Ireland from extinction.