Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Question 391: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, at the time when Coolrain and Knockacollier were designated special areas of conservation, the other bogs in County Laois that were surveyed or considered for SACs. [4861/12]

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Question 392: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the scientific evidence upon which the designation of the Coolrain bog, County Laois, as a special area of conservation was based, in particular the fauna, plants and wildlife. [4862/12]

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Question 393: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the notification that was sent to the owners of turf banks on Coolrain bog, County Laois, prior to it being designated a special area of conservation; and if he has copies of this correspondence and a list of those to whom it was sent. [4863/12]

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Question 394: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the notification that was sent to the owners of turf banks on Coolrain Bog, County Laois, to inform them that it had been designated a special area of conservation; and if he has copies of this correspondence and a list of those to whom it was sent. [4864/12]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 391 to 394, inclusive, together.

Coolrain Bog is a site of considerable conservation significance comprising as it does an active raised bog, a rare habitat in the EU and one that is becoming increasingly scarce and under threat in Ireland. Active raised bog is listed as a priority habitat on Annexe I of the EU Habitats Directive. Priority status is given to habitats and species that are threatened throughout the EU. Ireland has a high proportion of the total EU resource of this habitat type (over 60%) and so has a special responsibility for its conservation at an international level.

Coolrain Bog was selected as one of 24 SAC sites notified for designation in 2002 for the protection of raised bog habitat, following a review of 136 sites previously identified as the most important sites for this habitat in Ireland. The review was based on extensive survey work going back to 1983. The bog was first surveyed in 1983 as part of a national survey of raised bogs by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. In a review of these surveys in 1990, the site was considered as "very important", as the most southerly intact example of a true midland raised bog. It was re-surveyed in 1994 as part of the Natural Heritage Area (NHA) Survey and was considered to be recovering well from a severe fire. The bog was surveyed again in 1999 as part of the Raised Bog Restoration Project and the report recommended it for SAC status, due to its location and its large area of active bog habitat.

The site accounts over these years provide information on the presence of typical raised bog features, such as pools, hummock/ hollow complexes, flushes, etc. The presence of characteristic species indicate the occurrence and extent of active peat formation. Unlike most other raised bogs, Coolrain Bog developed over Old Red Sandstone rather than limestone, a factor that will have affected the water chemistry of the site and the early development of the bog. Using aerial photographs, the high bog areas and any visible features, such as flushes and pools, were mapped and measured. Drains, areas of burning and forestry on the high bog, along with active peat cutting, were also recorded. Land use and drainage in the cutover bog was recorded and the cutover assessed for regeneration potential.

All of this information was used when the site was reassessed in 2002 as part of the final review to select raised bogs for NHA and SAC designation. In the 2002 review, the specific criteria used to select raised bogs of conservation importance were as follows:

1. Location/ peat archive

2. Past ratings as to the ecological importance of the site

3. Active peat formation: hummock/ hollows, sphagnum species.

4. High bog area (>60ha)

5. Integrity: percentage of original high bog remaining

6. Habitat diversity: pools, flushes, soaks, bog woodland and semi-natural margins

7. Geomorphology (geohydrology): basin, ridge, floodplain

8. Geology

9. Climatic variation

10. Proximity to SACs, Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and NHAs, especially other raised bog sites

Coolrain was found to merit selection as an NHA under criteria 1, 3, 4, 8 and 9. Because of its importance for the range of the Midland Raised Bog type, it was also assessed as suitable to be an SAC, where it received an overall assessment of B ("good value"), which is considered more than adequate for SAC designation.

Between 2004 and 2008, restoration work was carried out by Coillte on 56 ha of the SAC as part of an EU LIFE-funded project. This work has included the removal of invasive species from the high bog and felling of trees and blocking of drains on the cutover bog. While the effectiveness of the work was somewhat limited by ongoing turf cutting and drainage of adjacent areas, it should in time improve the conservation status of the site.

When Coolrain and Knockacoller Bogs were being assessed, five other bogs - Moanavan/Yellow Bog, Clonsoghy, Killnamuck (Abbyleix), Monaincha/Ballaghmore and Clonreher Bog - in County Laois were also considered for designation as either NHAs or SACs. Coolrain and Knockcoller Bogs were chosen for SAC designation due to the superior quality of their habitat. Monaincha/Ballaghmore and Clonreher Bogs were considered to be of sufficient conservation value to merit designation as NHAs. The three other bogs were not considered to be to be of sufficient value to merit designation. Two other potential NHAs (Rossagad, Knockaroe) were not considered as they had been already assessed as inadequate in earlier surveys. In recent years, Killnamuck (Abbyleix) Bog, a Bord na Móna site which had been drained but not cut, was extensively restored and may be considered for designation in the future. A copy of the letter which issued to landowners and those with an interest in the site, in December 2002, notifying them of the intention to designate Coolrain Bog as an SAC will be sent directly to the Deputy. In addition, notice of intention to designate the site was advertised in the Leinster Express on 21st December 2002 and displayed in various public access points in the area. The list of those notified is deemed to be a personal record and consequently is not publicly available.

The Coolrain site has been formally adopted by the European Commission, giving it the full protection of the Habitats Directive. The site will be formally designated, along with all of Ireland's SAC sites, over the coming year, though this will not affect the legal protection it is already afforded. Landowners and turbary right owners will be notified of its formal designation at that time.