Mr. Pádraic Fogarty:

The IWT welcomes the publication last year of the national raised bog SAC management plan and is grateful to the NPWS and the other stakeholders for the work that went into this. Hopefully it will secure the future of these special places. We also commend the restoration efforts being undertaken at 12 of our raised bog SACs by the Living Bog Project and the CANN project, a €9.4 million cross-border environment project, which aims to improve the condition of blanket bog habitats and to support priority species found at 25 EU designated SACs across Northern Ireland, the Border region and western Scotland. We are encouraged by European Innovation Partnerships, EIPs, being run by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, one of which is working with scientists and farmers in upland areas with the aim of restoring the hen harrier population in SPAs. The community of Abbeyleix, County Laois has undertaken a remarkable project to rescue and restore their local bog, something which has been championed by President Higgins. We would also like to commend the work of the Bord na Móna ecology team which has been working on the restoration of 15,000 ha of industrial cut-away bog. The Lough Boora parklands in County Offaly show that large-scale ecological restoration is not only technically feasible but can also be popular with local communities while stimulating small scale sustainable enterprises. Despite this, many communities remain in the dark as to what the future of their local area holds. The IWT would like to see the ecological restoration of all of Bord na Móna's 80,000 ha landholding but we are keen also that local communities will be central to the decision-making process. We have been told by local community groups that plans for a Shannon wilderness park have been stymied by lack of engagement from Bord na Móna and the drive for wind farms, which are unwanted by local communities.

Although the current state of our peatlands is not good, there remains an incredible opportunity if the right policies are put in place. Fixing these important ecosystems can help us to clean our water, lock up carbon, regulate flooding, stimulate local economies and restore wildlife populations. The IWT would like new solutions for upland farmers so they can make a good living while protecting nature. We would like Coillte to convert its plantations to native woodlands or, where appropriate, to restore blanket bog habitats. We would like Bord na Móna to be repurposed so that the midlands could be home to one of Europe’s largest landscape and nature restoration projects. There is an urgent need for the peatlands strategy to be energetically implemented.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service should be leading an education drive to show people the wonders of our peatland wildlife. To date, unfortunately, we have not seen the level of vision or enthusiasm required to meet these goals. A cloud of neglect and apathy has smothered the natural world. It is a terrible legacy that we are leaving to the next generation. It does not have to be this way. Legislators such as the committee members have the power to take action and give our children a brighter future.