Protocol for the Sustainable Management of Peatlands in Ireland

Full text

BOGLAND:
Sustainable Management of
Peatlands in Ireland
PROTOCOL DOCUMENT
STRIVE
Report Series No.76
STRIVE
Environmental Protection
Agency Programme
2007-2013

Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is
a statutory body responsible for protecting
the environment in Ireland. We regulate and
police activities that might otherwise cause
pollution. We ensure there is solid
information on environmental trends so that
necessary actions are taken. Our priorities are
protecting the Irish environment and
ensuring that development is sustainable.
The EPA is an independent public body
established in July 1993 under the
Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992.
Its sponsor in Government is the Department
of the Environment, Heritage and Local
Government.
OUR RESPONSIBILITIES
LICENSING
We license the following to ensure that their emissions
do not endanger human health or harm the environment:
waste facilities (e.g., landfills,
incinerators, waste transfer stations);
large scale industrial activities
(e.g., pharmaceutical manufacturing,
cement manufacturing, power plants);
intensive agriculture;
the contained use and controlled release
of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs);
large petrol storage facilities.
Waste water discharges
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT
Conducting over 2,000 audits and inspections of
EPA licensed facilities every year.
Overseeing local authorities’ environmental
protection responsibilities in the areas of - air,
noise, waste, waste-water and water quality.
Working with local authorities and the Gardaí to
stamp out illegal waste activity by co-ordinating a
national enforcement network, targeting offenders,
conducting investigations and overseeing
remediation.
Prosecuting those who flout environmental law and
damage the environment as a result of their actions.
MONITORING, ANALYSING AND REPORTING ON THE
ENVIRONMENT
Monitoring air quality and the quality of rivers,
lakes, tidal waters and ground waters; measuring
water levels and river flows.
Independent reporting to inform decision making by
national and local government.
REGULATING IRELAND’S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
Quantifying Ireland’s emissions of greenhouse gases
in the context of our Kyoto commitments.
Implementing the Emissions Trading Directive,
involving over 100 companies who are major
generators of carbon dioxide in Ireland.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Co-ordinating research on environmental issues
(including air and water quality, climate change,
biodiversity, environmental technologies).
STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
Assessing the impact of plans and programmes on
the Irish environment (such as waste management
and development plans).
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING, EDUCATION AND
GUIDANCE
Providing guidance to the public and to industry on
various environmental topics (including licence
applications, waste prevention and environmental
regulations).
Generating greater environmental awareness
(through environmental television programmes and
primary and secondary schools’ resource packs).
PROACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
Promoting waste prevention and minimisation
projects through the co-ordination of the National
Waste Prevention Programme, including input into
the implementation of Producer Responsibility
Initiatives.
Enforcing Regulations such as Waste Electrical and
Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction of
Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and substances that
deplete the ozone layer.
Developing a National Hazardous Waste Management
Plan to prevent and manage hazardous waste.
MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE EPA
The organisation is managed by a full time Board,
consisting of a Director General and four Directors.
The work of the EPA is carried out across four offices:
Office of Climate, Licensing and Resource Use
Office of Environmental Enforcement
Office of Environmental Assessment
Office of Communications and Corporate Services
The EPA is assisted by an Advisory Committee of twelve
members who meet several times a year to discuss
issues of concern and offer advice to the Board.
An Ghníomhaireacht um Chaomhnú Comhshaoil
Is í an Gníomhaireacht um Chaomhnú
Comhshaoil (EPA) comhlachta reachtúil a
chosnaíonn an comhshaol do mhuintir na tíre
go léir. Rialaímid agus déanaimid maoirsiú ar
ghníomhaíochtaí a d'fhéadfadh truailliú a
chruthú murach sin. Cinntímid go bhfuil eolas
cruinn ann ar threochtaí comhshaoil ionas
go nglactar aon chéim is gá. Is iad na
príomh-nithe a bhfuilimid gníomhach leo
ná comhshaol na hÉireann a chosaint agus
cinntiú go bhfuil forbairt inbhuanaithe.
Is comhlacht poiblí neamhspleách í an
Ghníomhaireacht um Chaomhnú Comhshaoil
(EPA) a bunaíodh i mí Iúil 1993 faoin
Acht fán nGníomhaireacht um Chaomhnú
Comhshaoil 1992. Ó thaobh an Rialtais, is í
an Roinn Comhshaoil agus Rialtais Áitiúil a
dhéanann urraíocht uirthi.
ÁR bhFREAGRACHTAÍ
CEADÚNÚ
Bíonn ceadúnais á n-eisiúint againn i gcomhair na nithe
seo a leanas chun a chinntiú nach mbíonn astuithe uathu
ag cur sláinte an phobail ná an comhshaol i mbaol:
áiseanna dramhaíola (m.sh., líonadh talún,
loisceoirí, stáisiúin aistrithe dramhaíola);
gníomhaíochtaí tionsclaíocha ar scála mór (m.sh.,
déantúsaíocht cógaisíochta, déantúsaíocht
stroighne, stáisiúin chumhachta);
diantalmhaíocht;
úsáid faoi shrian agus scaoileadh smachtaithe
Orgánach Géinathraithe (GMO);
mór-áiseanna stórais peitreail.
Scardadh dramhuisce
FEIDHMIÚ COMHSHAOIL NÁISIÚNTA
Stiúradh os cionn 2,000 iniúchadh agus cigireacht
de áiseanna a fuair ceadúnas ón nGníomhaireacht
gach bliain.
Maoirsiú freagrachtaí cosanta comhshaoil údarás
áitiúla thar sé earnáil - aer, fuaim, dramhaíl,
dramhuisce agus caighdeán uisce.
Obair le húdaráis áitiúla agus leis na Gardaí chun
stop a chur le gníomhaíocht mhídhleathach
dramhaíola trí comhordú a dhéanamh ar líonra
forfheidhmithe náisiúnta, díriú isteach ar chiontóirí,
stiúradh fiosrúcháin agus maoirsiú leigheas na
bhfadhbanna.
An dlí a chur orthu siúd a bhriseann dlí comhshaoil
agus a dhéanann dochar don chomhshaol mar
thoradh ar a ngníomhaíochtaí.
MONATÓIREACHT, ANAILÍS AGUS TUAIRISCIÚ AR
AN GCOMHSHAOL
Monatóireacht ar chaighdeán aeir agus caighdeáin
aibhneacha, locha, uiscí taoide agus uiscí talaimh;
leibhéil agus sruth aibhneacha a thomhas.
Tuairisciú neamhspleách chun cabhrú le rialtais
náisiúnta agus áitiúla cinntí a dhéanamh.
RIALÚ ASTUITHE GÁIS CEAPTHA TEASA NA HÉIREANN
Cainníochtú astuithe gáis ceaptha teasa na
hÉireann i gcomhthéacs ár dtiomantas Kyoto.
Cur i bhfeidhm na Treorach um Thrádáil Astuithe, a
bhfuil baint aige le hos cionn 100 cuideachta atá
ina mór-ghineadóirí dé-ocsaíd charbóin in Éirinn.
TAIGHDE AGUS FORBAIRT COMHSHAOIL
Taighde ar shaincheisteanna comhshaoil a chomhordú
(cosúil le caighdéan aeir agus uisce, athrú aeráide,
bithéagsúlacht, teicneolaíochtaí comhshaoil).
MEASÚNÚ STRAITÉISEACH COMHSHAOIL
Ag déanamh measúnú ar thionchar phleananna agus
chláracha ar chomhshaol na hÉireann (cosúil le
pleananna bainistíochta dramhaíola agus forbartha).
PLEANÁIL, OIDEACHAS AGUS TREOIR CHOMHSHAOIL
Treoir a thabhairt don phobal agus do thionscal ar
cheisteanna comhshaoil éagsúla (m.sh., iarratais ar
cheadúnais, seachaint dramhaíola agus rialacháin
chomhshaoil).
Eolas níos fearr ar an gcomhshaol a scaipeadh (trí
cláracha teilifíse comhshaoil agus pacáistí
acmhainne do bhunscoileanna agus do
mheánscoileanna).
BAINISTÍOCHT DRAMHAÍOLA FHORGHNÍOMHACH
Cur chun cinn seachaint agus laghdú dramhaíola trí
chomhordú An Chláir Náisiúnta um Chosc
Dramhaíola, lena n-áirítear cur i bhfeidhm na
dTionscnamh Freagrachta Táirgeoirí.
Cur i bhfeidhm Rialachán ar nós na treoracha maidir
le Trealamh Leictreach agus Leictreonach Caite agus
le Srianadh Substaintí Guaiseacha agus substaintí a
dhéanann ídiú ar an gcrios ózóin.
Plean Náisiúnta Bainistíochta um Dramhaíl
Ghuaiseach a fhorbairt chun dramhaíl ghuaiseach a
sheachaint agus a bhainistiú.
STRUCHTÚR NA GNÍOMHAIREACHTA
Bunaíodh an Ghníomhaireacht i 1993 chun comhshaol
na hÉireann a chosaint. Tá an eagraíocht á bhainistiú
ag Bord lánaimseartha, ar a bhfuil Príomhstiúrthóir
agus ceithre Stiúrthóir.
Tá obair na Gníomhaireachta ar siúl trí ceithre Oifig:
An Oifig Aeráide, Ceadúnaithe agus Úsáide
Acmhainní
An Oifig um Fhorfheidhmiúchán Comhshaoil
An Oifig um Measúnacht Comhshaoil
An Oifig Cumarsáide agus Seirbhísí Corparáide
Tá Coiste Comhairleach ag an nGníomhaireacht le
cabhrú léi. Tá dáréag ball air agus tagann siad le chéile
cúpla uair in aghaidh na bliana le plé a dhéanamh ar
cheisteanna ar ábhar imní iad agus le comhairle a
thabhairt don Bhord.
NewStrive Backdc-blue:SEA ERTDI No18 Reprint 22/06/2009 08:57 Page 1

EPA STRIVE Programme 2007–2013
BOGLAND: Sustainable Management of
Peatlands in Ireland
PROTOCOL DOCUMENT
Synthesis Report and End of Project Report available for download at http//erc.epa.ie/safer/reports
Prepared for the Environmental Protection Agency
by
University College Dublin
Authors:
Florence Renou-Wilson, Tom Bolger, Craig Bullock, Frank Convery, Jim Curry,
Shane Ward, David Wilson and Christoph Müller
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
An Ghníomhaireacht um Chaomhnú Comhshaoil
PO Box 3000, Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford, Ireland
Telephone: +353 53 916 0600 Fax: +353 53 916 0699
Email: info@epa.ie Website: www.epa.ie

ii
© Environmental Protection Agency 2011
DISCLAIMER
Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the material contained in this
publication, complete accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Neither the Environmental Protection Agency
nor the author(s) accept any responsibility whatsoever for loss or damage occasioned or claimed to
have been occasioned, in part or in full, as a consequence of any person acting, or refraining from
acting, as a result of a matter contained in this publication. All or part of this publication may be
reproduced without further permission, provided the source is acknowledged.
The EPA STRIVE Programme addresses the need for research in Ireland to inform policymakers and
other stakeholders on a range of questions in relation to environmental protection. These reports are
intended as contributions to the necessary debate on the protection of the environment.
EPA STRIVE PROGRAMME 2007–2013
Published by the Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland
ISBN: 978-1-84095-404-3
Price: Free 08/11/300

iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This report is published as part of the Science, Technology, Research and Innovation for the
Environment (STRIVE) Programme 2007–2013. The programme is financed by the Irish
Government under the National Development Plan 2007–2013. It is administered on behalf of the
Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government by the Environmental
Protection Agency which has the statutory function of co-ordinating and promoting environmental
research.
The achievement of the main goals of this large-scale research programme was made possible by the
commitment and hard work of numerous people from many organisations. As well as the people who
actively carried out research within the BOGLAND Project (see list overleaf), the authors would like
to thank everybody who helped in any way with fieldwork, administration or research work. The
encouragement, advice and wisdom of the members of the project Steering Committee are gratefully
acknowledged: Dr Shane Colgan, Tadhg O’Mahony, Nicola Foley and Dr Frank McGovern
(Environmental Protection Agency), Dr Caitriona Douglas and Dr Jim Ryan (National Parks and
Wildlife Service), Prof. Hans Joosten (Greifswald University, Germany), Mr Gerry McNally (Bord
na Móna), Prof. Harri Vasander (Helsinki University, Finland), and Dr Richard Weyl and Bob
Davidson (Environment and Heritage Service, Northern Ireland). The authors also wish to thank Dr
George Smiley and Dr Jim Collins (University College Dublin) and the late Dr Bob Hammond for
early contributions to a workshop on peat and peatland definitions. Thanks are also due to Mr Phillip
O'Brien (National University of Ireland Galway/Environmental Protection Agency), Dr Kevin Black
(Forest Environmental Research and Services (FERS) Ltd), Dr Ken Byrne (University of Limerick),
Dr Brian Tobin (University College Dublin), Dr Eugene Hendrick (COFORD), Dr Mick Keane
(Coillte), Dr Aileen O'Sullivan (Coillte) and Dermot Tiernan (Coillte) who contributed to a
workshop on Forested Peatlands. Finally, the authors would like to thank unnamed thousands of
individuals throughout Ireland who selflessly participated in the socio-economic research studies by
answering surveys or joining focus groups.

iv
BOGLAND Research Team
Prof. Thomas Bolger, School of Biology and Environmental Resource, University College Dublin
Dr Noel Boylan, School of Architecture, Landscape & Civil Engineering, University College Dublin
Dr Craig Bullock, School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin
Dr Nicholas Clipson, School of Biology and Environmental Resource, University College Dublin
Dr Marcus Collier, School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin
Dr John Connolly, School of Agriculture, Food Science & Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin
Prof. Frank Convery, School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin
Prof. Con Cunnane, Applied Ecology Unit, National University Ireland Galway
Dr Louise Deering, School of Biology and Environmental Resource, University College Dublin
Dr Catherine Farrell, Bord na Móna
Prof. Ted Farrell, School of Biology and Environmental Resource, University College Dublin
Dr John Feehan, School of Biology and Environmental Resource, University College Dublin
Dr Mike Gormally, Applied Ecology Unit, National University Ireland Galway
Dr Edel Hannigan, School of Biology and Environmental Resource, University College Dublin
Dr Nick Holden, School of Agriculture, Food Science & Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin
Dr Paul Johnston, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin
Dr Mary Kelly-Quinn, School of Biology and Environmental Resource, University College Dublin
Dr Mike Long, School of Architecture, Landscape & Civil Engineering, University College Dublin
Mr Gerard Lynch, Teagasc, Athenry. Co. Galway and Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford
Mr Paolo Mengoni, Teagasc, Athenry. Co. Galway and Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford
Dr Richard Moles, Centre for Environmental Research, University of Limerick
Prof. Christoph Müller, School of Biology and Environmental Resource, University College Dublin
Ms Fionnula Murphy, School of Agriculture, Food Science & Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin
Mr Declan Peelo, School of Biology and Environmental Resource, University College Dublin
Mr Shane Regan, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin
Dr Florence Renou-Wilson, School of Biology and Environmental Resource, University College Dublin
Dr Rogier Schulte, Teagasc, Athenry. Co. Galway and Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford
Dr. Mark Scott, School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin
Mr. Michael Walsh, Teagasc, Athenry. Co. Galway and Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford
Prof. Shane Ward, School of Agriculture, Food Science & Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin
Dr Briony Williams, Teagasc, Athenry. Co. Galway and Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford
Dr David Wilson, School of Biology and Environmental Resource, University College Dublin
Dr Rachel Wisdom, School of Biology and Environmental Resource, University College Dublin

v
Details of Project Partners
Florence Renou-Wilson
College of Life Sciences
Agriculture & Food Science Centre
University College Dublin
Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland
Tel.: +353 1 7167725
Email: florence.renou@ucd.ie
Tom Bolger
UCD School of Biology and Environmental Resource
UCD Science Education and Research Centre – West
University College Dublin
Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland
Jim Curry
Department of Environmental Resource Management
Faculty of Agri-Food and the Environment
University College Dublin
Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland
Christoph Müller
UCD School of Biology and Environmental Resource
Agriculture & Food Science Centre
University College Dublin
Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland
Paul Johnston
Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental
Engineering
Trinity College Dublin
College Green
Dublin 2
Ireland
Shane Ward
UCD School of Agriculture, Food Science &
Veterinary Medicine
Agriculture & Food Science Centre
University College Dublin
Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland
Conleth Cunnane
Engineering Hydrology
National University of Ireland Galway
University Road
Galway
Ireland
Frank Convery
UCD School of Geography, Planning and
Environmental Policy
Richview
University College Dublin
Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland
Rogier Schulte
Teagasc
Johnstown Castle Research Centre
Wexford
Ireland

vii
Table of Contents
Disclaimer ii
Acknowledgements iii
BOGLAND Research Team iv
Details of Project Partners v
1 Introduction 1
2 The BOGLAND Project 2
2.1 Structure, Main Objectives and Components of the Research 2
3 BOGLAND Findings 3
3.1 Integrating Biodiversity Protection and Sustainable Management of Irish Peatlands 3
3.2 Characteristics, Disturbances and Management of Irish Peatlands 3
3.3 Peatlands, People and Policies 4
3.4 Summary 4
4 Current Situation and Main Issues 5
4.1 The State of Irish Peatlands in 2010 5
4.2 Main Obstacles to Sustainable Peatland Management 6
5 Developing a Protocol for the Sustainable Management of Peatlands 8
5.1 Support Framework and Key Aims of the Protocol 8
5.2 Action Plan 9
5.3 Management of Peatlands for Biodiversity (MPB) 10
5.4 Management of Peatlands for Carbon, Climate and Archives (MPC) 11
5.5 Management of Peatland for Water (MPW) 13
5.6 Management of Peatlands for Other Land Uses (MPL) 13
5.7 Management of State-Owned Peatlands (MPS) 15
5.8 Management of Peatlands Using Socio-Economic and Policy Instruments (MPE) 16
5.9 Management of Peatlands for and with the People (MPP) 17
6 A Peatland Strategy Working Group 19
7 Further Research 20
8 General Conclusion 21
References 22
Acronyms and Annotations 23
Annex 1 24

1
1 Introduction
Peatlands have been part of the Irish landscape since
the last Ice Age and, together with a remnant of
primeval forests, they form our oldest natural heritage.
They are the country’s last great area of wilderness,
hovering between land and water, providing unusual
habitats for its unique and specialist flora and fauna.
Peatlands cover a large area of the land surface (20%),
occurring as raised bogs, blanket bogs or fens and
forming cultural landscape icons in many parts of the
country (e.g. Connemara, Ox Mountains, Slieve
Bloom). They have accumulated peat over millennia,
creating an important economic raw material on which
the livelihoods of certain rural populations have
critically depended. This accumulated peat mass
makes peatlands a fascinating historical archive of
past environmental and cultural change. More
importantly, in the context of climate change issues,
peatlands store very large amounts of carbon that are
released to the atmosphere should the peatland
degrade, for instance through peat exploitation.
Peatlands are the most space-effective carbon stores
of all terrestrial ecosystems (Dise, 2009). Over
centuries, they slowly remove and store more carbon
than they produce and therefore they exert a net
cooling effect on the global climate (Frolking
et al.,
2006). Once degraded, this process is reversed. Along
with many other benefits provided by peatlands, these
ecosystem services have generally remained
unnoticed, being largely invisible to the naked eye.
This has resulted in a lack of appreciation of the need
for cautious management.
Peatlands and Irish people have been closely
connected by a long history of cultural and economic
development. In the distant past, peat landscapes
were both feared and respected as wilderness areas
and often linked to traditional culture, rituals and
worship (Feehan
et al., 2008). In modern times,
peatlands have commonly been treated as wastelands
that are of no use unless they are drained or
excavated. Irish peatlands have been afforested, cut
over by domestic cutting, cut away by industrial peat
extraction, eroded by overgrazing and agricultural
reclamation, damaged by infrastructural developments
and invaded by non-native species. To add to this
destructive scene, climate change is likely to threaten
further the survival of these ecosystems (Jones et al.,
2006). In 1979, around 56% of the original area of Irish
bogs was deemed still ‘unmodified’ by man. However,
all Irish peatlands to date have been affected by peat
cutting, grazing or fire to one extent or another. In a
recent assessment (Malone and O'Connell, 2009), it
was estimated that only 10% of the original raised bog
and 28% of the original blanket peatland resource are
now in a good enough condition to be considered as
representative peatland habitats, suitable for
conservation site designation, i.e. of conservation
value.
At the dawn of the 21st century, the dilemmas facing
the peatland resource have been heightened with only
few ‘near-intact’ or ‘natural’ peatlands remaining in the
Irish landscape, which are likely to be further
damaged, be it directly by humans or by global
changes. These are challenging times for Irish
peatlands and therefore questions have to be asked:
• What will be the contribution of Irish peatlands to
the next generations?
• How should peatlands be managed and utilised to
ensure that this natural heritage is not lost –
indeed that it should be enhanced?

BOGLAND: sustainable management of peatlands in Ireland
2
2 The BOGLAND Project
This nationwide integrated study, informally known as
the ‘BOGLAND Project’ was funded as a 4-year
‘sustainable development’ project by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) research
programme. Its overall objective was to develop
guidance in the development of strategies for the
sustainable future management of peatlands in
Ireland. To this effect, the report aimed to provide a
synthesis of knowledge on this key natural resource,
the important functions and roles that peatland
ecosystems perform, their various utilisations and how
attitudes and policies affect them.
2.1 Structure, Main Objectives and
Components of the Research
The overall aims of the project were addressed by:
• Characterising Irish peatlands – their physical and
ecological characteristics and their trends;
• Evaluating the goods and services they provide
(ecosystem services);
• Assessing the vulnerability of their functions; and
• Understanding their socio-cultural and economic
attributes.
Policy recommendations for sustainable management
options were then presented – within the current policy
context – with the aim of delivering healthy ecosystems
and taking into account their socio-economic and
cultural services (Fig. 2.1).
As a multidisciplinary research study, the BOGLAND
project sought to collate available information and
attempted to fill information gaps that exist on Irish
peatlands by asking broad questions:
• What is this resource called ‘peatlands’
characterised by?
• What are its benefits and values (e.g. ecological,
socio-cultural and economic)?
• What are the current pressures and threats to this
resource and concerns for its future?
• What are the current policies and do they give rise
to tensions?
Figure 2.1. Main research dimensions to develop a protocol for the sustainable management of peatlands.
Status of peatlands
(trends of functioning
components)
Ecosystem goods
and services Threats to functions
of peatlands
Sustainable
Management
Options

F. Renou-Wilson et al.
3
3 BOGLAND Findings
The research work was conducted in four sub-projects,
20 work packages (see Annex 1), with the core
research work focusing on three areas:
1. Biodiversity;
2. Characterisation of the physical peatland
resource and its use; and
3. Socio-cultural, economic aspects and institutional
policy.
The BOGLAND project helped to detect changes and
trends in the quantity and quality of the peatland
resource by producing baseline data against which to
assess policy and management options. Thus, the
project helped to bridge the gap between scientific
priorities and the real world of management. It has
brought together diverse knowledge on peatland
features, functions and services from different sources,
through a multidisciplinary task force. The key
management aspects were based on ‘integration
across disciplines’ and ‘consultation of all parties’. A
particular strength of the project was the collaboration
of representatives from government, non-government
and scientific bodies, as well as other stakeholders.
3.1 Integrating Biodiversity Protection
and Sustainable Management of
Irish Peatlands
This section focused on building on existing data
regarding the biodiversity of peatlands and their
associated abiotic environment (soil and water). New
surveys of birds (Bracken
et al., 2008), aquatic and
terrestrial invertebrates, as well as vegetation and
micro-organisms comprise critical information against
which the effectiveness of future management
practices of peatlands can be measured. This research
demonstrated that peatlands support few but unusual
and rare species with exceptional adaptation. As
species new to Ireland were discovered (Hannigan
et
al., 2009) and indeed one new to science, it is clear
that the contribution of Irish peatlands to biodiversity is
not yet fully understood. Meanwhile, biodiversity
indicators developed in this project, such as protected
species but also habitat heterogeneity, can inform
whether a peatland site is:
(a) Suffering from degradation;
(b) Healthy; or
(c) In the process of recovery.
These indicators should be used for future assessment
of all the peatlands, starting with state-owned sites, in
order to draw up individual restoration and
management plans that will maximise their natural
functions, not least their unique biodiversity.
3.2 Characteristics, Disturbances and
Management of Irish Peatlands
In this section, a new map has been generated
showing that peat soils cover 20.6% of the national
land area (Connolly and Holden, 2009) and contain
more than 75% of the national soil organic carbon
(SOC). Estimating the carbon stock of Irish peatlands
is critical and therefore a peat depth inference model
was developed to improve this estimate for a blanket
bog region in Ireland (Holden and Connolly, 2011).
It was also revealed that near-intact peatlands over the
whole country may actively sequester, on average,
57,402 t C/year. However, damaged peatlands are a
persistent source of carbon dioxide (CO2) and, at the
national level, Irish peatlands are a large net source of
carbon, estimated currently at around 2.64 Mt C/year
(Wilson
et al., 2011). In view of these findings, it is clear
that carbon dynamics should be a key driver of policies
for peatland management. Active and remedial
management options, such as avoiding drainage
(conserving) and re-wetting (full restoration or
paludiculture) may be effective ways to maintain the
carbon storage of peatlands and to recreate conditions
whereby the peatland may actively sequester carbon
in the future.
This investigation into peatland utilisation showed that
past and current management of peatlands in Ireland

BOGLAND: sustainable management of peatlands in Ireland
4
have not been sustainable. Disturbances in the form of
industrial and domestic peat extraction, private
afforestation, overgrazing, wind farms and recreational
activities have had, and continue to have, major
impacts on the hydrology and ecology of these habitats
(Renou-Wilson and Farrell, 2009; Regan and Johnson
2010). In recent years, several peat failures on blanket
bogs were associated with wind-farm developments
and this has questioned the ability of the
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process to
fully assess the likely environmental impacts. Peat
strength is a complex attribute of peatlands and varies
at each site and thus requires a stability assessment to
be carried out as part of the EIA. New guidance for
such an EIA should include the utilisation of the new
UCD-DSS1 technique (Direct Simple Shear
Apparatus) which has been developed within the
BOGLAND project (Boylan and Long, 2009). It is a
simple shear device using image analysis techniques
(e.g. Particle Image Velocimetry) that allow the testing
of peat soils at low effective stresses representative of
the in-situ condition.
From our analysis of policies affecting peatlands and
interviews with stakeholders, it could be concluded that
the majority of peatlands have been damaged because
of legislative inertia and lack of enforcement.
3.3 Peatlands, People and Policies
The management of the Irish peatland resource is a
complex task comprising large areas of various
habitats exhibiting a range of status (from near intact to
very degraded), involving a mixture of stakeholders,
and which are affected by many different (sometime
contradicting) policies. In order to achieve sustainable
management of peatlands, ecosystem services or
functions should underpin policy. This was
demonstrated in Section 4 of the Synthesis Report,
where an economic analysis has revealed that
peatlands are public goods that deliver benefits of
great economic and social value (primarily in relation to
carbon storage, biodiversity, amenity and landscape).
However, these are often ignored by the general public
and can sometimes work in conflicting directions.
While there is a lack of public awareness regarding
certain functions of peatlands (e.g. the contribution of
peat extraction to increased carbon dioxide emissions
in the atmosphere and related current climate change),
people’s attitudes to peatlands are changing. The
results of this survey indicated general public support
for:
• The protection of peatlands;
• The transformation of industrial cutaways into uses
that encourage wildlife and green energy
production; and
• A willingness to pay for the establishment of a
dedicated National Peatland Park. However,
people still attach a social value to the domestic
cutting of peat and do not always recognise a
contradiction with peatland preservation (Bullock
and Collier, 2011). This study has identified
considerable ambiguity and lack of understanding
as to the significance of the peatland resource,
and in particular its role in the provision of
ecosystem services. It is time to open the debate
and actively involve the public, especially the local
communities in drawing up future management
options for peatlands, and in particular industrial
cutaway peatlands (Collier and Scott,
2008).
3.4 Summary
The BOGLAND project has demonstrated the
compelling evidence of the importance of Ireland’s
peatland resource as:
• A major carbon store;
• The negative potential of degraded peatlands to
augment the greenhouse effect;
• The positive role of natural and restored peatlands
to actively sequester carbon from the atmosphere;
• The role of peatlands in watershed management;
• Their contribution to biodiversity; and
• Their essential attributes that confer on them a
cultural and informative function.
In conclusion, managing peatlands sustainably so that
they can deliver all these benefits will require a mixture
of economic instruments, regulation and institutional
design. But most of all, it requires immediate actions.
1. University College Dublin’s direct simple shear technique.

F. Renou-Wilson et al.
5
4 Current Situation and Main Issues
4.1 The State of Irish Peatlands in 2010
• Ireland remains one of the heartlands of blanket
bogs in the world but is barely holding on to its
unique raised bogs.
• While new species are still being discovered in
bogs and fens across the country, it can be
assumed that the contribution of Irish peatlands to
biodiversity is not yet fully understood.
• Peat soils cover 20.6% of the national land area
and contain more than 75% of the total SOC in
Ireland but this asset is under great pressure.
• Natural peatlands act as a long-term carbon store
and play an important role in the regulation of the
global climate by actively removing carbon from
the atmosphere, but this important function is
reversed (i.e. there is a net release of carbon)
when the peatland is damaged.
• All Irish peatlands (raised bogs, blanket bogs and
fens) have been impacted by natural and
anthropogenic disturbances over the course of
their history. Peat soils now occur under different
land uses – forest, grassland, agricultural crops –
as well as a range of degraded peatland
ecosystems, from industrial cutaway bogs to
overgrazed blanket bogs, and a very small area of
active peatland (near intact).
• While being a significant resource, the degradation
of peat soils witnessed in the 20th century has left
a disproportionately small amount of near-intact
peatlands and a much reduced mire area or active
peatland where peat formation is ongoing. Of the
15% of the peat soils extent that are currently
protected, less than three-quarters are in near-
intact condition and of that a smaller proportion is
active (Table 4.1).
• The area of active raised bog has decreased by
over 35% between 1995 and 2005. It is estimated
that between 2% and 4% of this active area
continues to be lost every year since then. While
turf cutting continues, it is reasonable to expect
that the area of active bog will continue to
decrease (this decline will in fact continue for
several decades after cutting and drainage
ceases).
Table 4.1. Distribution of Irish bogs (ha) in 2010 (sources from the National Parks and Wildlife Service
(NPWS), Coillte and Bord na Móna).
Category Total area
(Hammond, 1981) Protected
peatlands Protected
near intact Unprotected, of
conservation
value
NPWS
ownership Coillte
ownership Bord na Móna
ownership
Raised 237,190 35,000 21,519 2
28,48137,000 31,72555,3027
Blanket 765,890 182,063 143,248 34,536434,339 188,33467,383
Industrial cutaway 82,0801– – – – 12,450 74,193
Total 1,085,160 203,582 164,767 63,017 41,339 232,509 86,878
1Includes 74,110 ha of industrial cutaway raised bog and 7,970 ha of industrial cutaway blanket bog.
2Includes 1,945 ha of active bog (supporting a significant area of vegetation that is normally peat forming) (NPWS, 2007).
3Total area of uncut high bog (50,000 ha) minus area of protected uncut high bog (21,519 ha) (NPWS, 2007).
4Total area of blanket bog of conservation value (Malone and O'Connell, 2009) minus protected areas.
5Includes 570 ha of restored bogs.
6Includes 2,000 ha of restored bogs.
7Mostly hydrologically damaged but includes some restored areas. Bord na Móna sold nearly 7,000 ha of raised bogs of conservation
value to the NPWS.

BOGLAND: sustainable management of peatlands in Ireland
6
• The boundaries of most protected peatlands are
hydrologically deficient and do not allow adequate
hydrological management of the designated sites.
Therefore, their restoration in terms of increasing
the active area (that is fully functioning) is
jeopardised.
• Since the 1950s, there has been a sharp decline in
the area of Irish peatlands of conservation
importance which has arisen as a result of human
exploitation of the resource.
• The last century saw:
The introduction of mechanised turf extraction
schemes (both industrial and domestic);
Afforestation schemes;
Intensification of agriculture through the
Common Agriculture Policy (CAP); and
Land reclamation through drainage schemes,
all of which contributed to the dramatic decline
in natural peatlands.
• The biggest disturbances of Irish peatlands in the
21st century are: industrial and domestic peat
extraction, private afforestation (afforestation of
western peatlands by Coillte has been
suspended), wind-farm and associated
infrastructural developments, recreation activities,
invasive species and climate change.
• More than a third of Irish bogs (excluding fens) are
state owned (Table 4.1).
• Being degraded to various degrees, the vast
majority of Irish peatlands are critically at risk of
future disturbances such as climate change.
Predicted changes are likely to affect low Atlantic
blanket bogs in the west of Ireland the least while
the areas showing greatest changes in
precipitation and temperature are the areas
containing basin peat in the Midlands.
4.2 Main Obstacles to Sustainable
Peatland Management
The main obstacles to the sustainable management of
peatlands in Ireland are summarised here:
• A number of government departments, in particular
the Department of Communications, Energy and
Natural Resources (energy) and the Department of
the Environment, Community and Local
Government (national parks and wildlife,
biodiversity, climate change, water planning), have
key policy responsibilities that shape how
peatlands are managed. These are often in
conflict.
• While a legal and administrative structure exists in
Ireland to help decision-making processes
(European Union (EU) Directives on environmental
issues and land use planning have been ratified),
the absence of a national policy relevant to
peatlands and inadequate public administration
functions (including funding) to administer current
legislation (e.g. peat cutting on Special Areas of
Conservation (SACs)) are major obstacles to
conservation targets.
• Based on our economic analysis, it was concluded
that acquisition ought to be a more cost-effective
process than the compensation scheme to stop
turbary rights holders from cutting turf on protected
bogs.
• Poor communication (e.g. contacts with turbary
rights owners regarding turf cutting on protected
sites are insufficient).
• Lack of public awareness and understanding.
• Poorly planned renewable energy schemes
(mistakenly promoting wind farms on upland
blanket bogs).
• Unregulated voluntary carbon market.
• Poor prediction of climate change at the regional
level.
• Market-driven peat extraction for horticulture.
• Management of the surrounding land area and
hydrological catchment often ignores the needs of
the peatland site.
• The management of peatland has often been led
by single-interest groups that are often
insufficiently informed about the wider

F. Renou-Wilson et al.
7
consequences of inappropriate actions.
This situation, together with the poor conditions of the
majority of Ireland’s peatlands, calls for a national
framework for their sustainable management,
coalescing environmental, social, economic and
institutional objectives.

BOGLAND: sustainable management of peatlands in Ireland
8
5 Developing a Protocol for the Sustainable Management
of Peatlands
5.1 Support Framework and Key Aims
of the Protocol
The scientific investigations (e.g. biodiversity
assessments, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
monitoring, mapping and analysis of physical
characteristics, socio-economic surveys) carried out
within the BOGLAND project revealed the global
significance of a national resource and the dilemmas of
peatland management, utilisation and conservation.
The main part of this report presented the backdrop of
the exceptional features of peatlands which includes
the provision of benefits traditionally ignored in
decision making. In this large-scale analysis, the
general and local public, as well as stakeholders, were
engaged in peatland discussions. This collation of
information provides a comprehensive guidance for
the ‘sustainable’ management of peatlands and needs
to be translated into instruments to assist decision
making. The BOGLAND project provided a strong
scientific and socio-economic evidence base, a
prerequisite to advise political decision making
(Fig. 5.1). A support framework or
protocol
for the
sustainable management of peatlands necessitates
the drafting of an action plan (set of recommendations)
for managing peatlands and the articulation of a vision
for a peatland policy. First, however, key aims need to
be presented in the current context together with an
analysis of the main existing issues and obstacles to
the successful sustainable management of peatlands.
Ultimately, this protocol aims to support the promotion
of the sustainable management of peatlands. A system
is said to be sustainable if it allows the well-being of
future generations to be at least as high as that of the
present generation. Well-being, in this definition,
comprises a combination of financial (measured by per
capita income, employment, etc.), social (measured by
education level, life expectancy, health, etc.) and
environmental (measured by quality of environmental
endowments, including air, water, soil, flora and fauna)
criteria. A system can also be defined as sustainable if
it is not vulnerable and thus not threatened. The
sustainable management of the peatland resource is a
highly desirable objective towards which Ireland
should aim. However, the Irish landscape is the
product of many centuries of human interference and,
Figure 5.1. Evidence-based policy development for Irish peatlands.
Baseline analysis (data acquired in this project)
Action Plan:
1. Awareness of current situation
2. Management options
3. Policy instrument options
4. Improvement of our scientific understanding
Vision of future (targets):
Sustainable management of the peatland resource
‘
Towards a peatland policy’

F. Renou-Wilson et al.
9
in the case of peatlands, it has been significantly
degraded as a result of a wide range of disturbances.
The BOGLAND report has found that past and current
management of peatlands in Ireland has not been
generally sustainable and has had major negative
impacts on the ecosystem services that they provide
(biodiversity, climate, past knowledge, etc.). Natural
peatlands, which are hydrologically and ecologically
intact, have become rare and are being further
threatened. Past mismanagement has led to the
majority of the Irish peatlands being damaged or
becoming deteriorated. Conservation management in
its traditional form (designation) was also very limited,
resulting in a small area of peatland enjoying
protection, at least on paper. Indeed, designated areas
continue to be damaged (Table 5.1). A protocol for the
sustainable management of peatlands should ensure
that, while a substantial part is already irreversibly lost,
what remains of this natural heritage should be
enhanced. In short, any vision of the future must
include maintaining and enhancing one of Ireland’s last
natural ecosystems –
peatlands
. This protocol aims to
succeed in achieving such vision that serves the needs
of humans and preserves nature.
5.2 Action Plan
The targets set around managing Irish peatlands have
changed through time and will continue to change as
they integrate future ecological, economic and social
conditions. However, overarching targets have been
highlighted within this protocol for the sustainable
management of peatlands and the preferred means or
actions of achieving these targets are presented
below, under seven headings:
1. Managing peatlands for biodiversity (MPB);
2. Managing peatlands for carbon, climate and
archives (MPC);
3. Managing peatlands for water (MPW);
4. Managing peatlands for other land uses (MPL);
5. Managing state-owned peatlands (MPS);
6. Managing peatlands using socio-economic
instruments (MPE); and
7. Managing peatlands for and with the people
(MPP).
The responsibility for each action may rely on one or
several parties working together for this action plan to
be successful. These include: the industry sector
(including Bord na Móna, Coillte and other private
companies), local and national government and
agencies (EPA, NPWS), non-governmental
organisation (NGOs) and universities and other bodies
engaged in research (e.g. socio-economic). In the
‘Actions’ outlined below for the sustainable
management of peatlands, the following abbreviations
are used: IND, Industry sector; GOV, Government and
its agencies; RES, Research bodies.
Table 5.1. Management of Irish peatlands through time.
Past Present Future
‘with the objectives of achieving’
• Conservation of a very small proportion
of the peatlands
• Conversion of the peatlands to a
different state
• Fixed, short-term economic uses
prevailed and were even subsidised
• Long-term economic uses of ecosystem
services such as carbon storage and
biodiversity function ignored and un-
remunerated
• A large natural resource of local,
national and international importance
but hydrologically and ecologically intact
peatlands have become rare (some
types even extinct!)
• Damaged and deteriorating conditions
of the majority of Irish peatlands (bad
states of threatened EU priority habitats)
• Peatlands are vulnerable as some
current uses are not sustainable
• A strategy to manage peatlands
sustainably with the means of achieving
more desirable outcomes than their
continued loss and by regularly
adapting measures against future global
changes
• To utilise the resource as long as
sustainability is maintained

BOGLAND: sustainable management of peatlands in Ireland
10
5.3 Management of Peatlands for
Biodiversity (MPB)
5.3.1 Observations
Peatlands are exceptional natural entities. They are
local illustrations of a unique combination of habitats
with a unique biodiversity and natural heritage value.
Peatlands are a valuable ecosystem from a national,
European and global perspective. The last century and
particularly the last half-century have been the most
destructive for peatlands. It has taken the same
amount of time to realise that the degradation of these
ecosystems and the disappearance and even
extinction of species are not in the interest of human
well-being at large, especially not of future
generations. The loss of peatlands in Ireland equates
to a loss of biodiversity at regional, national and
international levels. Therefore, it is vital to reverse the
trends, halt further loss of priority habitats and species,
and protect the last intact peatlands. The drivers of
biodiversity change are projected to either remain
constant or even increase in the near future and this
represents a major challenge for the protection of
peatlands. The sustainable management of peatlands
which necessitates a new approach to the protection of
natural and degraded ecosystems ought to make a
very significant contribution towards Ireland’s
obligations under the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD).
5.3.2 Targets
• To maintain the current extent and overall
distribution of all blanket bogs, raised bogs and
fens currently in favourable conditions (Actions
MPB1, 2, 3);
• To improve the status of peatland habitats which
were assessed as ‘bad’ in the latest NPWS
assessment (with prioritised target sites and
timescale) (Actions MPB2, 3, 4);
• To maintain the number of rare species and rare
habitats protected under the Habitats Directive
(1992) and the Wildlife (Amendment) Act (2000)
and improve their status (Actions MPB1, 2);
• To increase the area of ‘Active raised bog’ by
improving the areas designated as ‘Degraded
raised bog’ (Actions MPB1, 2, 3);
• To increase the range of protected peatland
habitats, including fens (Actions MPB1, 4);
• To maintain the network and landscape integrity of
peatlands (Actions MPB1, 4);
• To avoid further loss of protected peatlands by
removing their threats (Action MPB6);
• To increase the awareness of peatlands and
associated biodiversity: maintain, restore and
enhance the range, network and integrity of
peatland habitats, some of which are unique to
Ireland (Actions MPB2, 4, 7, 8);
• To protect and enhance biodiversity at different
levels: from landscape to genetic (Actions MPB1,
2, 4);
• To improve our understanding of the variety of
peatlands at all levels and associated habitats
(Actions MPB2, 4, 5, 8); and
• To develop a conservation strategy as part of the
general national peatland strategy (Actions MPB1,
2, 6, 7).
5.3.3 Actions – 1. Management of peatlands for biodiversity (MPB)
Priority Remit Link
MPB1: All remaining areas of priority habitat peatlands (active and degraded raised bogs
and blanket bogs) should be declared as SACs and more peatland sites (including
fens) should be designated under adequate legal protection. Attention should be
paid to maintaining the integrity of these peatland habitats to ensure the survival of
the unique biodiversity that they sustain.
High GOV MPB4
MPC10
MPB2: Designated peatland sites should be appropriately managed and restored to
increase the total area of near-intact peatlands. A range of key peatland sites
representing all types of peatlands should be identified for positive management to
achieve biodiversity targets at different levels: genetic, species, habitat and
ecosystem.
High GOV MPC2
MPC3

F. Renou-Wilson et al.
11
5.4 Management of Peatlands for
Carbon, Climate and Archives
(MPC)
5.4.1 Observations
Irish peatlands are a huge carbon store, containing
more than 75% of the national SOC. A constant high
water table that restricts aerobic decay is a
prerequisite for long-term storage of carbon in
peatlands and preserving the information stored in the
peat (archaeological and palaeo-environmental
archives).
Peat soils are sensitive to degradation processes such
as erosion, compaction and contamination. Studies in
the BOGLAND project demonstrated that natural or
undamaged peatlands help to regulate the global
climate by actively removing carbon from the
atmosphere but this important function is reversed (i.e.
there is a net release of carbon) when the peatland is
damaged. Disturbances, such as peat extraction,
drainage or flooding, have considerable impact on
carbon cycling within the peat soil with implications for
their potential for sequestration and storage of carbon.
Peat extraction transforms a natural peatland, which
acts as a modest carbon sink, into a cutaway
ecosystem which is a large source of carbon dioxide.
An area of raised bog damaged by domestic peat
cutting may emit as much as six to seven times more
carbon dioxide than in a near-intact part of the
peatland, due to peat oxidation intensified by the
lowering of the water table.
In addition, the carbon cycling of degraded peatlands
may be particularly vulnerable to future changes in
climatic inputs compared to intact peatlands. However,
considerable uncertainty exist in predicting the effects
of future climate change on the carbon stores within
peatlands, partly due to the complexity of the climatic
system itself but also as a result of response variations
both between and within
individual peatlands.
Restoration may be an effective way to reduce carbon
dioxide emission and maintain the carbon storage of
peatlands. While natural peatlands are able to buffer
the impact of external perturbations such as small
changes in climate, they are unlikely to survive as
carbon sinks, with large magnitudes of changes in
precipitation and temperature.
5.4.2 Targets
• To retain, enhance and maximise the value of
peatland as a carbon store (Actions MPC1, 2, 3, 6,
7, 10);
MPB3: The threats and causes of degradation should be evaluated on all protected
peatland sites (included those proposed for designation). The Habitats Directive
gives statutory authorities the right to require that all activities on designated
peatlands undergo an Appropriate Assessment (AA). While Irish law is in the
process of being amended to facilitate the implementation of AA, all activities
pertaining to protected peatlands should undergo an AA (including turf cutting).
High GOV MPC2
MPB4: An inventory of the condition of all peatlands (including those not designated)
should be developed. Medium GOV
RES MPB1
MPC3
MPS2
MPB5: Wet heaths are often associated with blanket bogs and are listed in Annex 1of the
Habitats Directive as an important habitat to protect. An assessment of the
disturbance to these habitats is required as they have serious consequences in
terms of carbon loss and water quality.
Medium GOV
RES
MPB6: Subsidies that promote excessive and destructive uses of peatlands and their
ecosystem services should be eliminated. High GOV MPL8
MPE5
MPE9
MPB7: Consideration for the protection and conservation of peatland biodiversity should be
integrated into other government policies, such as climate change policy, renewable
energy policy, strategy for invasive species and the Water Framework Directive.
Medium GOV MPC7
MPB8: Traditional knowledge as well as relevant scientific findings and data should be
made available to all of society but particularly stakeholders and decision makers,
thus raising awareness and understanding of peatland habitats and associated
biodiversity.
Low GOV
NGOs MPP3
MPP7

BOGLAND: sustainable management of peatlands in Ireland
12
• To promote carbon dioxide absorption by the
peatland vegetation and to encourage carbon
accumulation in the peat (Actions MPC2, 3, 9, 10);
• To decrease carbon emissions and other carbon
loss (through fluvial, erosion or burning processes)
from degraded peatlands (including cutovers and
cutaways) (Actions MPC1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10);
• To restore the hydrological integrity of degraded
peatlands (Actions MPC1, 2, 3);
• To safeguard the archaeological and palaeo-
environmental information stored in the peat
(Actions MPC1, 2); and
• To mitigate potential climate change effects
including the spread of invasive species (Actions
MPC2, 5, 8, 10).
5.4.3 Actions – 2. Management of peatlands for carbon, climate and archives (MPC)
Priority Remit Link
MPC1: Strict protection of peatlands sites that have been designated for conservation is
critical for the maintenance of their carbon storage and sequestration capacity and
associated ecosystem functions. This requires (1) stopping and removing any
disturbances on these sites, and (2) setting up a management plan with the aim of
maintaining the active peatland system and restoring the full functioning status of the
peatland.
High GOV MPB2
MPB3
MPC2: Peat oxidation should be stopped in all protected peatlands as well as in degraded
peatlands where possible as protected peatlands are only a minor part of the total
area of peatlands. This requires a programme of restoration which should follow an
adaptive management approach, i.e. assessing individual sites and developing
individual management plans to maximise the natural functions of each as each
peatland is different.
High GOV MPC1
MPB4
MPS1
MPS2
MPW3
MPC3: In order to combat carbon dioxide emissions from peat oxidation, water
management in degraded peatlands should be optimised (reduce drainage) and
preserve the palaeo-information within the peat. Water management for restoration
purposes needs sufficient time and resources to take cognisance of the local hydro-
geology which has often very localised conditions.
High GOV MPC1
MPC2
MPW2
MPW3
MPC4: Invasive species should be actively removed from protected sites and appropriate
long-term management should be set out for those sites in relation to updated
climate change scenarios.
Medium GOV MPB1
MPC1
MPC5: An appropriate form of rehabilitation or restoration should be a licensing condition for
any exploitive use of peatlands. High GOV MPL6
MPC6: Measures to reduce peat (carbon) loss from degradation such as erosion should be
introduced at management plan level (e.g. commonage) and in other policies (agri-
environmental).
Medium GOV MPB7
MPC7: Burning of peatland as a management practice to facilitate the extraction of the peat
or to increase the population of grouse (promoting heather growth) should be strictly
controlled. The Muirburn Code (Scottish Natural Heritage, 2005) should be used as
best practice in using fire as a management tool to avoid accidental fire and
additional carbon emissions.
Medium GOV
MPC8: The establishment of a network of protected areas representing the geographical
distribution of peatland types should be a priority in order to off-set climate change
threats.
High GOV MPB1
MPC9: The first option for after-use of cutaway peatlands should be to promote, where
possible, the return to a natural functioning peatland ecosystem. The favoured
management option should therefore involve re-wetting or the creation of a wetland.
Medium GOV
MPC10: New production techniques such as paludiculture (growing biomass in a wet
environment) should be developed and promoted to generate production benefits
from cutaway and cutover peatlands without diminishing their environmental
functions. Paludiculture is probably the after-use option that can have the most
benefit from a climate mitigation point of view: avoiding carbon emissions from the
degraded peatland, from the displaced fossil fuels and also from its transports.
Medium GOV
IND
RES
MPE4

F. Renou-Wilson et al.
13
5.5 Management of Peatland for Water
(MPW)
5.5.1 Observations
Natural peatlands are essentially wetlands, i.e.
hydrological systems, and their ecological functioning
is primarily dependent upon the dynamics of water
flow. Water is the single most important factor enabling
peat accumulation and a waterlogging condition is a
prerequisite for peat formation and preservation.
Changes in the hydrological regime that sustains the
peatland will invariably disturb the normal hydro-
ecological functioning of the peatland. Restoration of
the hydrology is also vital for the maintenance of other
functions such as control of carbon emissions and
attenuation of water quality. The ability of peatlands to
regulate water flow is contentious. In fact, blanket bogs
tend to exacerbate run-off under conditions of high
rainfall while failing to provide a regular base flow in dry
periods. Under normal weather conditions, they may
provide some beneficial regulatory effect on water
flows downstream. Some fens can act as transition
areas for water, providing storage and maintaining
base flows to the downstream system. Bogs and fens
often have complex modes of water transport
(depending on peat properties and conditions) and
identifying these pathways is crucial if saturated
conditions in the peat and its dependent ecology are to
be maintained.
5.5.2 Targets
• To preserve and restore the hydrological status of
protected peatlands in a catchment (Actions
MPW1, 2, 3);
• To restore water levels and flow regimes as close
to the natural conditions as possible in all
protected sites (Action MPW2);
• To avoid unnecessary drainage in forested
peatlands and other peatland activities that lead to
deterioration of the quality and quantity of the
water (Action MPW3); and
• To maximise the use of cutaway peatlands for
water regulation (Action MPW4).
5.6 Management of Peatlands for Other
Land Uses (MPL)
5.6.1 Observations
Peatlands are extremely sensitive to any kind of
management options that affect the range of natural
functions they have been providing since the last ice
age, and have come under serious threat in the last 50
years or so. The BOGLAND project came some way in
demonstrating to managers and decision makers the
compelling evidence of the importance of Ireland’s
peatland resource as a major carbon store, the role of
natural (intact) peatlands as carbon sinks, the large
GHG emissions from degraded peatlands, the role of
peatlands in watershed management, their
contribution to biodiversity and the attributes that
confer on them a cultural and informative function.
Therefore, peatland management approaches that
preserve or restore the major natural functions of
peatlands should be promoted. The past management
5.5.3 Actions – 3. Management of peatland for water (MPW)
Priority Remit Link
MPW1: It should be ensured that peatlands (including cutaway peatlands) are fully included
in the development of River Basin Management Plans and that they are
appropriately assessed in Strategic Environmental Assessment of County Council
Development Plans.
Medium GOV MPL1
MPW2: A methodology/approach should be developed to systematically investigate and
quantify the environmental supporting conditions and hydro-ecological linkages that
can be peculiar to any given peatland.
Medium GOV
RES MPC3
MPW3: An appropriate water-table level (i.e. drainage) should be adopted as good practice
on utilised peatlands Medium GOV
RES MPC3
MPW4: The enhancement of cutaway peatlands for flood storage and attenuation should be
investigated. Low GOV
RES

BOGLAND: sustainable management of peatlands in Ireland
14
of peatlands often implied other land uses, which have
aimed at exploiting the economic resource and in most
cases affected deeply the natural functions of
peatlands. While many of the serious and extensive
impacts in relation to peat extraction and peatland use
for forestry and agriculture occurred in the past and are
unlikely to be repeated in quite the same way in the
future, any development on a peatland should be
carefully evaluated in order to balance the various
values involved.
5.6.2 Targets
• To implement strict planning control of all types of
development (exploitive uses) on peatlands
(Actions MPL1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11);
• To minimise peatland habitat loss due to illegal and
ill-planned developments or associated side-
effects (Actions MPL1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11);
• To enforce current legislation regarding
unauthorised activities on peatlands (Actions
MPL5, 7); and
• To implement sustainable farming regimes on all
priority habitats (Actions MPL8, 9).
5.6.3 Actions – 4. Management of peatlands for other land uses (MPL)
Priority Remit Link
MPL1: A code of good practice for development on peatlands should be produced and
systematically used for assessing any development proposals involving peatlands.
Such a code should emphasise the current legislation framework (EIA, AA,
Integrated Pollution Prevention Control (IPPC) licensing) within which any
developments can proceed and include evidence-based guidance for the relevant
authorities, including the following recommendations.
High GOV MPE1
MPL2: Good practice guidance for EIA involving peatlands should be developed. The EIA
Directive specifies that thresholds do not preclude sensitive areas and as such
peatlands are to be considered sensitive areas for any development and thus
require an EIA.
High GOV MPL4
MPL3: Wind-farm development on mountain blanket bogs of conservation value should be
banned. Particular guidance should be given in the case of an EIA for wind-farm
developments on peatlands. Such EIA should follow the guidance from the EU
Commission regarding such development on Natura 2000 sites and the wind energy
guidelines of the DOEHLG (2006), especially with regards to road construction,
fragmentation of the habitats and ground investigation. The guidelines include an
assessment of the peat strength over the profile depth. Such tools have been
developed within the BOGLAND project and should be used in stability assessment.
The UCD-DSS technique is a direct simple shear device that allows the strength of
peat to be assessed in a mode of deformation that is appropriate for stability
assessment.
High GOV
NGOs
RES
MPE1
MPL4: Appropriate Assessment should be carried out where exploitative utilisation is taking
place on or near protected sites, regardless of the size of the development. An EIA
should not suffice in this case.
High GOV MPB3
MPL5: All commercial peat-cutting enterprises should require planning permission and a
licence. Enforcement against unauthorised peat extraction should be pursued. High GOV MPS3
MPE1
MPE2
MPE3
MPL6: Licensing requirements should be tightened so that sites of 10 ha or more need to be
restored or rehabilitated after peat extraction. High GOV MPC5
MPL7: Sausage machine cutting should be banned on all protected sites and this ban
should be enforced. High GOV MPE9
MPL8: No form of peat cutting should occur within an agri-environment scheme. High GOV MPB7
MPL9: Sheep grazing on hill and mountain peatlands can be sustainably managed using a
stocking density based on habitats and by acknowledging seasonal variations in
vegetation cover and composition.
Medium GOV MPS4

F. Renou-Wilson et al.
15
5.7 Management of State-Owned
Peatlands (MPS)
5.7.1 Targets
• To achieve, maintain and take the lead in good
management practices on state-owned peatlands
(Actions MPS1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7);
• To increase the proportion of natural peatlands and
reduce carbon emissions from state-owned land
(Actions MPS1, 2, 4);
• To carry out good practices for the sustainable
management of forested peatlands in state
ownership (Actions MPS5, 6); and
• To reduce conflicts between governmental policies
(Actions MPS5, 6, 7, 8).
MPL10: Relevant authorities should ensure that forest policies and other land-use
management plans continue to protect and enhance peatlands. Low GOV MPS5
MPL11: The aforementioned code of good practice may necessitate an environmental
system management (ESM) programme to be established for all peatland-related
development. An ESM programme monitors and controls the impact of an
enterprise’s activities on the environment by establishing an environmental policy
with objectives and procedures (the similar to ISO 14001 standard) which could then
be audited by the EPA.
Low GOV MPL1
5.7.2 Actions – 5. Management of state-owned peatlands (MPS)
Priority Remit Link
MPS1: The present management of state-owned peatlands should be evaluated and
alternative management options aimed at increasing the natural functions of
peatlands should be implemented.
High GOV MPB1
MPB2
MPS2: An assessment of state-owned raised bogs and blanket bogs should be carried out
not only in the context of the Habitats Directive but with the aim of applying best
management practices. Management options should be appraised against functional
criteria. A range of response options may apply depending on the type and level of
impact of the disturbances.
High GOV MPB4
MPC2
MPS3: Where the current disturbance is illegal, it should be immediately removed by
enforcing the law as good governance and law enforcement are key to the
sustainable management of peatlands.
High GOV
MPS4: Where the current disturbance has not impacted on the major functions of the
peatland (e.g. appropriate grazing intensity, controlled turf cutting), the disturbance
should be maintained at an acceptable level as a management option and should be
monitored.
High GOV MPL9
MPS5: The management options regarding state-owned forested peatlands should be
critically reviewed and management options identified by Coillte regarding the
western peatland forests fully implemented in view of managing this national asset in
the most sustainable fashion.
Medium GOV MPL10
MPS6: Western forested peatlands which are commercially unproductive should be
candidates for either (1) restoration of peatland ecosystems, (2) long-term retention
of trees, or (3) promoting regenerating native scrub. The effects of these
management options on GHG emissions, especially peat oxidation, should be
investigated.
Medium GOV
RES MPS5
MPL10
MPS7: Policy regarding wind-farm developments on state-owned forests (on peat) should
be seriously appraised by a group of independent experts in each case (life-cycle
analysis).
High GOV MPL1
MPL11
MPS8: A government or national institution (National Working Group) should be developed
to take the lead in demonstrating what after-uses are being seriously considered for
industrial cutaway peatlands. An after-use policy considering the public’s preferred
options, namely amenity, wildlife and wind energy options, should be drafted.
Medium GOV
NGOs MPE3
MPP5
MPP8

BOGLAND: sustainable management of peatlands in Ireland
16
5.8 Management of Peatlands Using
Socio-Economic and Policy
Instruments (MPE)
5.8.1 Observations
The BOGLAND project findings demonstrate that the
sustainable management of peatlands is difficult, given
that the policies currently influencing peatlands are
outdated and largely irrelevant to the needs of a
modern Irish society whose understanding of the value
of peatlands is changing. Regulatory and economic
instruments are needed to achieve a balance between
the various objectives and to achieve a sustainable
use of the peatland resource including a satisfactory
level of peatland conservation. There is a conflict
between the short-term socio-economic benefits of
utilising peatlands and the peat resource and the long-
term social and environmental value of peatlands in
situ and in functioning conditions.
The introduction of the carbon tax on domestic fuels
may have produced a perverse incentive for increased
private peat extraction. Much of this activity exists in
the informal economy and the tax coupled with a more
general increase in conventional fuel costs may have
changed behaviour. Evidence for this is, however, only
anecdotal at present.
The past socio-economic policy to utilise the peatland
resource to promote self-reliance in energy, regional
development and employment may still be realised
with a shift from peat extraction to green industries on
cutaway peatlands. These include appropriate wind-
farm developments, paludiculture (in particular the
cultivation of
Sphagnum
moss for use as a growing
medium to replace horticultural peat), and the growth
of alder for the provision of biomass material in peat-
fired power plants. All these activities should be
incentivised as they could replace a non-sustainable,
finite peat extraction industry.
Peat is amongst the most carbon intensive of fuels.
Like all energy installations, peat-fired power stations
have been allocated allowances for free until 2012 on
the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU
ETS). The scheme aims to provide utilities with a
continuous price incentive to move away from energy
with high carbon emissions. From 2013, all electricity
generation plants, including the peat-fired stations, will
be subject to auctioning rather than free allocation.
Due to the necessity to pass on this cost of purchasing
allowances to cover the high emissions, the peat-
generated electricity will become more expensive. It
has been suggested that some of the revenues
generated by the sale of allowances to the industry will
be recirculated back to the national treasury. It is stated
in the Revised ETS Directive (2009/29/EC) that 50% of
these revenues
should
be used for climate-related
activities. This is a mechanism by which funding for the
protection of peatland carbon stocks (through
management or active restoration for example) might
be found. While this allocation of revenues is a matter
for national policy, there are some discussions at
international levels that may create additional
incentives to pursue a peatland policy. The inclusion of
Wetlands, and in particular wetland restoration within
any post-Kyoto agreement would create a mechanism
by which enhanced carbon sinks (or reduced carbon
loss) might be accounted for as part of compliance with
agreed targets (IPCC, 2010, 2011).
5.8.2 Targets
• To incentivise low carbon emissions industries
(Actions MPE1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9);
• To move away from non-renewable, non-
sustainable, peat-based industries (Actions MPE1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 8); and
• To promote cutaway peatland after-use for green
industries (Actions MPE6, 7).
5
.8.3 Actions – 6. Management of peatlands using socio-economic and policy instruments (MPE)
Priority Remit Link
MPE1: Management of peatlands for economic requirements should be in accordance with
relevant international legislation and conventions, national laws and regulations. High GOV
IND MPL1
MPL4
MPL5
MPE2: The Cessation of Turf Cutting Scheme should be fully implemented on
all
the raised
bogs designated as SACs and be given full political back-up. High GOV MPL5
MPE3

F. Renou-Wilson et al.
17
5.9 Management of Peatlands for and
with the People (MPP)
5.9.1 Observations
There is a clear information deficit regarding the public
benefits of peatlands and the relationship between
peatlands and people is changing. People have
commonly treated peatlands as wastelands, using
them in many destructive ways, without taking the
long-term environmental and related socio-economic
impacts into account. Interestingly, the surveys carried
out and the focus group discussions within the
BOGLAND project demonstrated support for the
protection of peatlands at both local and national
levels. The results from the two surveys also indicated
support for a National Peatlands Park to be located in
the Midlands. However, the value of peatlands as an
ecosystem providing crucial ecological, hydrological
and other services has generally been disregarded by
the public, mainly because it was not communicated in
any meaningful way. Currently, a very significant
information deficit applies to the carbon sequestration
and carbon storage benefits of peatlands and the
significant contribution that these make in regulating
the global climate. Also, most people do not realise
how few intact peatlands remain. The surveys
conducted within the BOGLAND project showed that
many people do not see a contradiction between the
cutting of peat, particularly domestic cutting, and the
value that they place on peatlands. It was also found
that decisions about management of peatlands are
often made remotely and by interest groups who may
be insufficiently informed about the local conditions
and consequences of inappropriate actions. A
fundamental requirement to the sustainable
management of peatlands is the raising of public
awareness of their importance and their active
participation at all stages of the strategy development.
5.9.2 Targets
• To increase awareness of the ecosystem services
provided by peatlands (Actions MPP1, 2, 3);
• To increase communication to stakeholders,
especially turbary rights holders and people living
near peatlands (Actions MPP4, 5, 7, 8); and
• To generate informed debates about peatlands in
national and local media (Actions MPP5, 6, 7, 8).
MPE3: The cessation of turf cutting on other designated sites (blanket bogs) should be
immediately assessed and solutions proposed from a forum of adequate
representatives.
High GOV MPS3
MPE4: A cost–benefit analysis at the macroeconomic level should be carried out in relation
to peat extraction and its role in modern Ireland. Medium GOV MPE8
MPE5: The Public Service Obligation (PSO) levy allocated to the peat industry should be
reviewed in the view that the continued carbon emissions from peat burning are
contrary to national interest. A portion of these funds could be used to invest in the
peatland resource that would bring a sustainable economic activity, carbon storage
and the delivery of other ecosystem services.
Medium GOV MPE9
MPE6: Carbon storage through peatland conservation, restoration and paludiculture should
be supported by Ireland for the next commitment periods of the Kyoto Protocol. Medium GOV
MPE7: Wind-farm development and cultivation of
Sphagnum
moss should be encouraged
on industrial cutaway peatlands through tax relief. Medium GOV
IND MPE5
MPE6
MPE8: The government should engage in a review of the use of peat in the horticultural
industry and phase out the use of peat as a horticultural growing medium at least in
the retail market. While there is not at present a technically, environmentally suitable
alternative material that could replace peat in professional horticultural crop
production, Ireland should lead research in this area and economic incentives should
be applied to compete with non-sustainable horticultural peat.
Medium GOV
IND MPE4
MPE9: Adequate funding and mechanisms to support sustainable management of
peatlands should be provided. High GOV MPE5

BOGLAND: sustainable management of peatlands in Ireland
18
5.9.3 Actions – 7. Management of peatlands for and with the people (MPP)
Priority Remit Link
MPP1: Peatland awareness programmes and educational material should be developed
and promoted through a wide variety of media: information sharing (website, DVDs,
etc.), education packs (see Irish Peatland Conservation Council), workshops,
posters in public places. Clear ‘peatland messages’ should be provided for use
across a wide range of media.
High GOV
NGOs MPP7
MPP2: Awareness and education could also be promoted by the improvement of public
access at certain appropriate sites. Low GOV
NGOs
MPP3: Traditional, indigenous knowledge of peat and peatlands as well as relevant
scientific findings and data should be clearly communicated and made available to
the public and to decision makers. This would also help dialogue between all the
stakeholders, who may not be sufficiently aware of the information and views held by
others. Information from all sources is crucial if more effective ecosystem
management strategies are to be introduced.
Medium GOV
NGOs
RES
MPP8
MPP4: Local communities have a very important role as stewards of peatland resources
and should be effectively involved in activities to restore and sustain the use of these
resources. Local committees and other vested groups should be consulted in order
to balance local concerns with the wider public ‘good’. The closer the management is
to the ecosystem, the greater the responsibility, accountability, participation and use
of local knowledge.
Medium GOV
MPP5: Governmental institutions should communicate early and extensively to the
stakeholders so that they become familiarised with the benefits of peatlands other
than for fuel.
Medium GOV MPS8
MPP6: The Government should advocate the communication of environmental information,
in particular that of peatlands, either through the promotion of its web-based
information channels or through the support to NGOs that communicate this
knowledge at all levels (in particular education).
Low GOV
NGOs
MPP7: It is critical that a national institution takes a lead in communicating information
regarding peatlands. High GOV MPP1
MPP8: The creation of a National Peatlands Park deserves serious consideration and
commands a degree of support from the Government. Medium GOV MPS8

F. Renou-Wilson et al.
19
6 A Peatland Strategy Working Group
The BOGLAND report provided main analysis and
findings that demonstrated that the Irish State needs to
change the way the peatland resource is currently
viewed and managed if it wishes to secure the multiple
benefits offered by these natural ecosystems and
avoid the costly consequences of further peatland
deterioration.
A National Peatland Strategy is clearly required if the
protocol for sustainable management of peatlands is to
be implemented. The development of such a strategy
should be carried out through the establishment of a
special working group (National Peatland Strategy
Working Group) whose main role would be to co-
ordinate the development of a consensus that charts
the way forward. In essence, the Working Group
should be responsible for developing and
implementing a strategy that works towards delivering
the greatest net benefits (market and non-market) from
the peatland resource in ways that are sustainable,
that is by optimising the balance between the different
aforementioned targets and necessary actions.
The remit of the National Peatland Strategy Working
Group should include:
• To make a proposal for a national peatland
strategy, taking into consideration the need for the
long- and short-term uses of these ecosystems
and the existing national, EU and international
obligations and policies;
• To suggest means of implementing this strategy by
evaluating the functionality of different licensing
procedures with regards to the different uses of
peatlands;
• To review and set up effective enforcement of
procedures as well as evaluate different
environmental permit proceedings required in the
uses of peatlands;
• To lead the development of a policy framework that
embraces the key market and non-market
functions;
• To set up a management unit with appropriate
experts for restoring degraded bogs and
safeguarding their carbon stores;
• To make a decision on state-owned peatlands,
especially those owned by Coillte and Bord na
Móna;
• To take the lead in identifying sustainable
utilisation and management options with regards to
industrial cutaway peatlands, taking on board the
findings of the BOGLAND report; and
• To make suggestions, when needed, for the
sustainable use and management of peatlands.
The Working Group needs to operate across an array
of administration units and embrace the exceptionally
large number and wide range of stakeholders. It should
be initiated by both the Departments of
Communication, Energy and Natural Resources and
the Department of the Environment, Community and
Local Government (with, as main actors, the EPA and
NPWS) and include the Department of Finance. To
kick-start this exercise, the working group should
initiate small workshops on specific themes in relation
to each peatland identified in the protocol (or action
plan).

BOGLAND: sustainable management of peatlands in Ireland
20
7 Further Research
Any decision making ought to be based on sufficient
and adequate information. Peatland management
issues are invariably complex and cross-disciplinary.
There are many gaps in knowledge from disciplines or
sectors other than those most directly linked to
peatlands. The BOGLAND project made great
progress towards a greater understanding of Irish
peatlands from the perspective of various society and
scientific disciplines: biodiversity, physical resource
and, for the first time, socio-economic and cultural
relationships. The project highlighted specific aspects
from each strand which necessitate further research
(see Annex 5.1a, End of Project Report). Critical
research areas that need immediate attention are
presented below. Ideally, these strands should be
regrouped under the umbrella of a centre of expertise
for peatlands which would create a research network
to improve knowledge and understanding of peatland
conditions and their functions, particularly in relation to
GHG emissions and water management.
Critical research areas that should be urgently
addressed are:
• Investigation of the GHG emissions from peat soils
under various management practices (to be used
towards Tier 3 reporting of the Kyoto Protocol);
• Identification and review of practical peatland
restoration projects and techniques to assess their
effectiveness in terms of hydrology, carbon storage
and sequestration potential and biodiversity at all
levels;
• Quantification of the actual extent of domestic peat
cutting, especially on blanket bogs;
• Classification and identification of all peatlands
along a degradation scale;
• Research and development into alternative
material to replace peat in horticultural and other
products;
• Investigation of the cultivation of
Sphagnum
moss
and more generally paludiculture on degraded
peatlands; and
• Research wet heaths which are often associated
with blanket bogs and are listed in Annex 1 of the
Habitats Directive as important habitats to protect.
An assessment of the disturbance to these
habitats is required as they have serious
consequences in terms of carbon loss and water
quality.

F. Renou-Wilson et al.
21
8 General Conclusion
The BOGLAND project focused on assimilating and
synthesising the scientific information needed to inform
policy about Irish peatlands. It revealed the global
significance of this national resource and the dilemmas
of peatland management, utilisation and conservation.
The project yielded a lot of information on many
aspects of peatlands covering the four pillars of
sustainability: environmental, social, economic and
institutional. Scientific chapters are available in full in
the End of Project Report, while the main findings have
been compiled in the Synthesis Report.
Technical information about the services
provided/affected by peatland use and management
should now be readily presented to politicians and
influential decision makers, with a clear impression of
the consequence of alternative decisions and policies.
Increasing the awareness (particularly to the wider
public) of the current situation and possible future
scenarios (backed up by enhanced scientific
understanding) is critical to this evidence-based policy
development. The
protocol
delivers an action plan or
set of recommendations which should be used to draft
a much-needed National Peatland Policy, which
should ensure that this natural heritage is not lost in the
future, but that it is safeguarded and enhanced during
a challenging period of economic transition. In short,
any vision of the future of Ireland must include the
maintenance and enhancement of one of its last
natural resources: peatlands. This protocol aims to
succeed in achieving such a vision that serves the
needs of the people and preserves our natural
heritage.
Ireland can decide today how its peatlands, this unique
natural resource, will look in 2050. To achieve
sustainable management of peatlands, the vision we
should aspire to is outlined below.
Irish Peatlands: 2050
• A good awareness by Irish people of the multiple benefits brought by peatlands and recognition of
peatlands as an important natural resource providing valuable ecosystem services.
• Active management by the Government and other stakeholders to maximise peatland functions especially
the storage and accumulation of carbon.
• Responsible treatment of peatlands used for agriculture, forestry and commercial operations.
• Integration of climate impacts into decisions on economic activities on peatlands.
• Favourable conservation status attained for all protected peatlands.
• Cutaway peatlands restored where possible and embryonic bogs once again growing in Ireland. Where
conditions are not favourable for restoration, cutaway peatlands rehabilitated to suit the needs and
aspirations of the local population, including amenity, wildlife and green energy options.

BOGLAND: sustainable management of peatlands in Ireland
22
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F. Renou-Wilson et al.
23
Acronyms and Annotations
.
AA Appropriate Assessment
CCarbon
CAP Common Agriculture Policy
CBD Convention on Biological Diversity
CO2Carbon dioxide
DSS Direct Simple Shear
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
ESM Environmental system management
ETS Emissions Trading Scheme
EU European Union
GHG Greenhouse gas
IPCC International Panel for Climate Change
IPPC Integrated Pollution Prevention Control
MPB Management of peatlands for biodiversity
MPC Management of peatlands for carbon, climate and archives
MPE Management of peatlands using socio-economic and policy instruments
MPL Management of peatlands for other land uses
MPP Management of peatlands for and with the people
MPS Management of state-owned peatlands (MPS
MPW Management of peatland for water
NGO Non-governmental organisation
NPWS National Parks and Wildlife Service
PSO Public Service Obligation
SAC Special Area of Conservation
SOC Soil organic carbon
UCD-DSS University College Dublin Direct Simple Shear Apparatus

BOGLAND: sustainable management of peatlands in Ireland
24
Annex 1 Research Strands and Outputs of the BOGLAND Project

Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is
a statutory body responsible for protecting
the environment in Ireland. We regulate and
police activities that might otherwise cause
pollution. We ensure there is solid
information on environmental trends so that
necessary actions are taken. Our priorities are
protecting the Irish environment and
ensuring that development is sustainable.
The EPA is an independent public body
established in July 1993 under the
Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992.
Its sponsor in Government is the Department
of the Environment, Heritage and Local
Government.
OUR RESPONSIBILITIES
LICENSING
We license the following to ensure that their emissions
do not endanger human health or harm the environment:
waste facilities (e.g., landfills,
incinerators, waste transfer stations);
large scale industrial activities
(e.g., pharmaceutical manufacturing,
cement manufacturing, power plants);
intensive agriculture;
the contained use and controlled release
of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs);
large petrol storage facilities.
Waste water discharges
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT
Conducting over 2,000 audits and inspections of
EPA licensed facilities every year.
Overseeing local authorities’ environmental
protection responsibilities in the areas of - air,
noise, waste, waste-water and water quality.
Working with local authorities and the Gardaí to
stamp out illegal waste activity by co-ordinating a
national enforcement network, targeting offenders,
conducting investigations and overseeing
remediation.
Prosecuting those who flout environmental law and
damage the environment as a result of their actions.
MONITORING, ANALYSING AND REPORTING ON THE
ENVIRONMENT
Monitoring air quality and the quality of rivers,
lakes, tidal waters and ground waters; measuring
water levels and river flows.
Independent reporting to inform decision making by
national and local government.
REGULATING IRELAND’S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
Quantifying Ireland’s emissions of greenhouse gases
in the context of our Kyoto commitments.
Implementing the Emissions Trading Directive,
involving over 100 companies who are major
generators of carbon dioxide in Ireland.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Co-ordinating research on environmental issues
(including air and water quality, climate change,
biodiversity, environmental technologies).
STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
Assessing the impact of plans and programmes on
the Irish environment (such as waste management
and development plans).
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING, EDUCATION AND
GUIDANCE
Providing guidance to the public and to industry on
various environmental topics (including licence
applications, waste prevention and environmental
regulations).
Generating greater environmental awareness
(through environmental television programmes and
primary and secondary schools’ resource packs).
PROACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
Promoting waste prevention and minimisation
projects through the co-ordination of the National
Waste Prevention Programme, including input into
the implementation of Producer Responsibility
Initiatives.
Enforcing Regulations such as Waste Electrical and
Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction of
Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and substances that
deplete the ozone layer.
Developing a National Hazardous Waste Management
Plan to prevent and manage hazardous waste.
MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE EPA
The organisation is managed by a full time Board,
consisting of a Director General and four Directors.
The work of the EPA is carried out across four offices:
Office of Climate, Licensing and Resource Use
Office of Environmental Enforcement
Office of Environmental Assessment
Office of Communications and Corporate Services
The EPA is assisted by an Advisory Committee of twelve
members who meet several times a year to discuss
issues of concern and offer advice to the Board.
An Ghníomhaireacht um Chaomhnú Comhshaoil
Is í an Gníomhaireacht um Chaomhnú
Comhshaoil (EPA) comhlachta reachtúil a
chosnaíonn an comhshaol do mhuintir na tíre
go léir. Rialaímid agus déanaimid maoirsiú ar
ghníomhaíochtaí a d'fhéadfadh truailliú a
chruthú murach sin. Cinntímid go bhfuil eolas
cruinn ann ar threochtaí comhshaoil ionas
go nglactar aon chéim is gá. Is iad na
príomh-nithe a bhfuilimid gníomhach leo
ná comhshaol na hÉireann a chosaint agus
cinntiú go bhfuil forbairt inbhuanaithe.
Is comhlacht poiblí neamhspleách í an
Ghníomhaireacht um Chaomhnú Comhshaoil
(EPA) a bunaíodh i mí Iúil 1993 faoin
Acht fán nGníomhaireacht um Chaomhnú
Comhshaoil 1992. Ó thaobh an Rialtais, is í
an Roinn Comhshaoil agus Rialtais Áitiúil a
dhéanann urraíocht uirthi.
ÁR bhFREAGRACHTAÍ
CEADÚNÚ
Bíonn ceadúnais á n-eisiúint againn i gcomhair na nithe
seo a leanas chun a chinntiú nach mbíonn astuithe uathu
ag cur sláinte an phobail ná an comhshaol i mbaol:
áiseanna dramhaíola (m.sh., líonadh talún,
loisceoirí, stáisiúin aistrithe dramhaíola);
gníomhaíochtaí tionsclaíocha ar scála mór (m.sh.,
déantúsaíocht cógaisíochta, déantúsaíocht
stroighne, stáisiúin chumhachta);
diantalmhaíocht;
úsáid faoi shrian agus scaoileadh smachtaithe
Orgánach Géinathraithe (GMO);
mór-áiseanna stórais peitreail.
Scardadh dramhuisce
FEIDHMIÚ COMHSHAOIL NÁISIÚNTA
Stiúradh os cionn 2,000 iniúchadh agus cigireacht
de áiseanna a fuair ceadúnas ón nGníomhaireacht
gach bliain.
Maoirsiú freagrachtaí cosanta comhshaoil údarás
áitiúla thar sé earnáil - aer, fuaim, dramhaíl,
dramhuisce agus caighdeán uisce.
Obair le húdaráis áitiúla agus leis na Gardaí chun
stop a chur le gníomhaíocht mhídhleathach
dramhaíola trí comhordú a dhéanamh ar líonra
forfheidhmithe náisiúnta, díriú isteach ar chiontóirí,
stiúradh fiosrúcháin agus maoirsiú leigheas na
bhfadhbanna.
An dlí a chur orthu siúd a bhriseann dlí comhshaoil
agus a dhéanann dochar don chomhshaol mar
thoradh ar a ngníomhaíochtaí.
MONATÓIREACHT, ANAILÍS AGUS TUAIRISCIÚ AR
AN GCOMHSHAOL
Monatóireacht ar chaighdeán aeir agus caighdeáin
aibhneacha, locha, uiscí taoide agus uiscí talaimh;
leibhéil agus sruth aibhneacha a thomhas.
Tuairisciú neamhspleách chun cabhrú le rialtais
náisiúnta agus áitiúla cinntí a dhéanamh.
RIALÚ ASTUITHE GÁIS CEAPTHA TEASA NA HÉIREANN
Cainníochtú astuithe gáis ceaptha teasa na
hÉireann i gcomhthéacs ár dtiomantas Kyoto.
Cur i bhfeidhm na Treorach um Thrádáil Astuithe, a
bhfuil baint aige le hos cionn 100 cuideachta atá
ina mór-ghineadóirí dé-ocsaíd charbóin in Éirinn.
TAIGHDE AGUS FORBAIRT COMHSHAOIL
Taighde ar shaincheisteanna comhshaoil a chomhordú
(cosúil le caighdéan aeir agus uisce, athrú aeráide,
bithéagsúlacht, teicneolaíochtaí comhshaoil).
MEASÚNÚ STRAITÉISEACH COMHSHAOIL
Ag déanamh measúnú ar thionchar phleananna agus
chláracha ar chomhshaol na hÉireann (cosúil le
pleananna bainistíochta dramhaíola agus forbartha).
PLEANÁIL, OIDEACHAS AGUS TREOIR CHOMHSHAOIL
Treoir a thabhairt don phobal agus do thionscal ar
cheisteanna comhshaoil éagsúla (m.sh., iarratais ar
cheadúnais, seachaint dramhaíola agus rialacháin
chomhshaoil).
Eolas níos fearr ar an gcomhshaol a scaipeadh (trí
cláracha teilifíse comhshaoil agus pacáistí
acmhainne do bhunscoileanna agus do
mheánscoileanna).
BAINISTÍOCHT DRAMHAÍOLA FHORGHNÍOMHACH
Cur chun cinn seachaint agus laghdú dramhaíola trí
chomhordú An Chláir Náisiúnta um Chosc
Dramhaíola, lena n-áirítear cur i bhfeidhm na
dTionscnamh Freagrachta Táirgeoirí.
Cur i bhfeidhm Rialachán ar nós na treoracha maidir
le Trealamh Leictreach agus Leictreonach Caite agus
le Srianadh Substaintí Guaiseacha agus substaintí a
dhéanann ídiú ar an gcrios ózóin.
Plean Náisiúnta Bainistíochta um Dramhaíl
Ghuaiseach a fhorbairt chun dramhaíl ghuaiseach a
sheachaint agus a bhainistiú.
STRUCHTÚR NA GNÍOMHAIREACHTA
Bunaíodh an Ghníomhaireacht i 1993 chun comhshaol
na hÉireann a chosaint. Tá an eagraíocht á bhainistiú
ag Bord lánaimseartha, ar a bhfuil Príomhstiúrthóir
agus ceithre Stiúrthóir.
Tá obair na Gníomhaireachta ar siúl trí ceithre Oifig:
An Oifig Aeráide, Ceadúnaithe agus Úsáide
Acmhainní
An Oifig um Fhorfheidhmiúchán Comhshaoil
An Oifig um Measúnacht Comhshaoil
An Oifig Cumarsáide agus Seirbhísí Corparáide
Tá Coiste Comhairleach ag an nGníomhaireacht le
cabhrú léi. Tá dáréag ball air agus tagann siad le chéile
cúpla uair in aghaidh na bliana le plé a dhéanamh ar
cheisteanna ar ábhar imní iad agus le comhairle a
thabhairt don Bhord.
NewStrive Backdc-blue:SEA ERTDI No18 Reprint 22/06/2009 08:57 Page 1

Science, Technology, Research and Innovation for the Environment (STRIVE) 2007-2013
The Science, Technology, Research and Innovation for the Environment (STRIVE) programme covers
the period 2007 to 2013.
The programme comprises three key measures: Sustainable Development, Cleaner Production and
Environmental Technologies, and A Healthy Environment; together with two supporting measures:
EPA Environmental Research Centre (ERC) and Capacity & Capability Building. The seven principal
thematic areas for the programme are Climate Change; Waste, Resource Management and Chemicals;
Water Quality and the Aquatic Environment; Air Quality, Atmospheric Deposition and Noise; Impacts
on Biodiversity; Soils and Land-use; and Socio-economic Considerations. In addition, other emerging
issues will be addressed as the need arises.
The funding for the programme (approximately €100 million) comes from the Environmental Research
Sub-Programme of the National Development Plan (NDP), the Inter-Departmental Committee for the
Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (IDC-SSTI); and EPA core funding and co-funding by
economic sectors.
The EPA has a statutory role to co-ordinate environmental research in Ireland and is organising and
administering the STRIVE programme on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and
Local Government.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
PO Box 3000, Johnstown Castle Estate, Co. Wexford, Ireland
t 053 916 0600 f 053 916 0699
LoCall 1890 33 55 99
e info@epa.ie w http://www.epa.ie