Proposed Irish National Wetlands Park

cameramonkey

http://www.build.ie/construction_news.asp?newsid=151988

anyone know anything about this? Could be a great addition to Ireland's national parks.

robp

cameramonkey wrote: »

http://www.build.ie/construction_news.asp?newsid=151988

anyone know anything about this? Could be a great addition to Ireland's national parks.

I have posted about this before here. I really hope it happens. The idea has been around for a few years at least. Its an issue worth lobbying on imo.

OpenYourEyes

It'd be not too far down the road from me if it goes ahead, I'd love to see it! Presumably it'd have a lot of similarities with what was done in Boora?

robp

I believe the bog complex in question is the Mountdillion group. Here is an interesting chart from Bord na Mona on the predicted peat product output of the different complexes including Mountdilion. Maybe this hints at the timescale of a creation of a wetlands park if the project got the green light.

the

from Strategic Framework for Future Use of Cutaway Bogs

http://www.landrehab.org/userfiles/files/Bord%20Na%20Mona/BNM%20Future%20Use%20of%20Cutaway%20Bogs.pdf

Birdnuts

I'm very excited by this prospect - there is little of this type of productive wetland habitat in our existing NP system. Would also open up the prospect of the re-introduction of birds like the Bittern,Crane etc. as well as giving a significant boost to some of our rarer existing wetland breeders like various waders etc.

dodderangler

Birdnuts wrote: »

I'm very excited by this prospect - there is little of this type of productive wetland habitat in our existing NP system. Would also open up the prospect of the re-introduction of birds like the Bittern,Crane etc. as well as giving a significant boost to some of our rarer existing wetland breeders like various waders etc.

Seen what looked to be a white crane or a egret other day being chased by group of crows
But looked bit to big to be a egret and definately wasn't a heron
Do they migrate here
It was in tallaght

Birdnuts

dodderangler wrote: »

Seen what looked to be a white crane or a egret other day being chased by group of crows
But looked bit to big to be a egret and definately wasn't a heron
Do they migrate here
It was in tallaght

Outside chance it was a Great Egret which occasionally turns up in this country(likely to appear more often in the future now that this species has started to breed in the UK) - this bird is sigficanty larger then the Little Egret which is itself now an increasingly widespread breeder in the East and South of the country.

robp

Birdnuts wrote: »

I'm very excited by this prospect - there is little of this type of productive wetland habitat in our existing NP system. Would also open up the prospect of the re-introduction of birds like the Bittern,Crane etc. as well as giving a significant boost to some of our rarer existing wetland breeders like various waders etc.

My knowledge of birds is limited, hypothetically speaking if the area developed as Turraun in Lough Boora would it support bitterns? I know experiments have been conducted on different rehabilitation strategies and some worked out significantly worse than the likes of Turraun.

For me the thought of marsh harriers mobbing bitterns is quite inspiring. Is Ireland big enough for resident marsh harriers?

Birdnuts

robp wrote: »

For me the thought of marsh harriers mobbing bitterns is quite inspiring. Is Ireland big enough for resident marsh harriers?

Very much so - a pair bred recently in NI and they are regular visitors to the likes of Tacumshin, Pollardstown Fen etc. They are also relatively common breeders over most of continental europe, in pretty much any type of wetland that supports a few acres of reedbeds.

Birdnuts

robp wrote: »

My knowledge of birds is limited, hypothetically speaking if the area developed as Turraun in Lough Boora would it support bitterns? I know experiments have been conducted on different rehabilitation strategies and some worked out significantly worse than the likes of Turraun.

?

AFAIK much of the area already remembles Turraun. At least the bits I've seen from the road.

robp

From the satellite photos I could see a lot of shrub regeneration in some of the core area but not much water. They may be out of date by a few years.

robp

I am dragging up an old thread but I think the topic will become more relevant in the near future.

Ireland: the lynchpin for Europe’s future (wind ) energy supercluster

O’Connor gave a breakdown of the opportunity for Ireland:

· More than 1,700 turbines capable of generating 3 megawatts each will be needed

· This requires the manufacture of 5,000 turbine blades

· The project will require 1,700 power cells

· This means 1,700 converters

· It also means 30 electrical substations

· A further 30 wind farms

· Some 400km of HVDC underground cables

· Hundreds of kilometres of new roads

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/clean-tech/item/31195-greengrowth-uk-energy/

Maybe I am the only one but I find this stomach churning. Especially the last point. I know some some bogs are worth sacrificing for energy security but the idea of tripling the numbers of windturbines often with far larger turbines just for sake of English nimbyism and investors makes me very uncomfortable. What I find worse is the lack of any coherent resistance.

vistafinder

robp wrote: »

I am dragging up an old thread but I think the topic will become more relevant in the near future.



http://www.siliconrepublic.com/clean-tech/item/31195-greengrowth-uk-energy/

Maybe I am the only one but I find this stomach churning. Especially the last point. I know some some bogs are worth sacrificing for energy security but the idea of tripling the numbers of windturbines often with far larger turbines just for sake of English nimbyism and investors makes me very uncomfortable. What I find worse is the lack of any coherent resistance.

This quote comes to mind after reading that.
Not until the last river has been poisened,the last tree cut down and the last fish has been killed will white man realise he cant eat money.

An American Indian said that but its all man now not just white man