Good Biodiversity news from Littleton Bog Group

In 2016 Bord na Mona published its five year Biodiversity Action Plan. Mark McCory who is part of the Ecology Team at Boora Bog Co. Offaly has on different occasions met with local groups in the Community and Sports Centre Littleton and in June 2018 gave an on-site talk at Lough Doire Bhile, a lakeside amenity area and walk that has attracted many visitors during Covid restrictions.
A recent update from Mark confirms that 95% of what was planned in the overall area of 4,800 hectares has been completed. The area stretches from Lurgoe near Laffan's Bridge to Ballysorrel near Templetuohy. Rehabilitation of cutaway bog consists of rewetting by blocking drains so that the water level rises and what had become a brown lifeless desert begins to regrow grasses, rushes, bog-cotton, heather, reed-beds, spagnum-moss and the everpresent birch tree. There have been excellent results in Ballysorrel where spagnum moss, which is part of the peat forming process, has regrown. There are also good signs of rehabilitation at Killeens, Derryvilla and Carrickhill. Trees have been cleared in Derryhogan to make a safe habitat for the Curlew, a long-billed wading bird with throbbing musical cry. There is some natural colonization on these sites but it will take a few years before they are more green than brown. Baunmore located near the old Lisheen mines is still one of the best for biodiversity. Its is now a preserved area and shooting and hunting are prohibited. A lone shooter could upset years of painstaking work.
Industrial peat extraction has completely ceased in the Littleton Bog Group. All of the above will align well with the Climate Action Bill which will soon become legally binding for all sectors of the economy with definite targets to be met. Currently all sites are classed as industrial and are private land. However Bord na Mona have completed an access amenity and tourism development feasibility study for the Littleton Bog Group and continue to engage with different local stakeholders.
They have recently supported a Tipperary Co. Council application to the Just Transition Fund to develop a cycleway in Killeens connecting Derrynaflan to Derryvilla. There is still plenty of scope to develop further access which could have a potential win-win for biodiversity if properly planned.
Bord na Mona would still be considering future land use and potential for renewable energy development. They are currently looking at Littleton Bog to erect a wind-monitoring mast.
Bord na Mona are also developing a Native Woodland Project. This would enhance and accelerate native woodland in appropriate cutaway bog areas. The first option with peat will always be to re-wet but there are some areas where woodland is a more sustainable option. They are currently in discussion with Coillte about a scheme.
Mark would like to meet with interested parties but is currently restricted due to the Covid pandemic. Hopefully when conditions allow local groups such as Cabragh Wetlands and the Holycross based inter-paroquial group An Domhan Glas can input their wisdom and energy into the above developments.
Over the years turf-harvesting has given a major boost to the local economy not only in wages but in heating our homes and cooking our food. Should renewable energy become a viable option we can look forward to a time when we boil our egg not with heat from the humble sod of turf but with electricity generated by a strong bog-wind. A recent comment from our Taoiseach Micheal Martin shows the urgrency of all of the above. "The need for climate action is now. Unless we act now, we may well reach the point of no recovery".