Don't mention the B word: cross-border conservation in Ireland - Trish Fox Senior Technical Officer
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Don’t mention the B word:
cross-border conservation in Ireland
Trish Fox
Senior Technical Officer,
Ulster Wildlife
“A touchstone for identity in a world of accelerating change, heritage fosters a sense of belonging and supports social cohesion at a local and national level”. Heritage Council Strategic Plan 2018-2022 2018-2022
Collaborative Action for the Natura Network
Who we are
• Largest cross-jurisdictional
partnership focused on
environmental improvement &
conservation works
• 35 staff employed across 11
project partners
• Total project budget €9.4m
• Operational until Dec 2021
What we are doing • Production of 25 Conservation Action Plans for designated sites • 3000+ha of restoration planned to help move sites towards favourable conservation status. • Stakeholder engagement and consultation - actions on the ground in partnership with the local communities
Why • All these nature sites are currently in “unfavourable” condition and declining. • Difficult to solve problems bilaterally • Landscape scale conservation needs new “can do” partnership models • Interreg Va programme wants to deliver for wetlands
Collaboration • INTERREG Programme addresses reduced economic development and shortage of joined-up services in border regions of the EU • INTERREG VA is supported by Northern Ireland, Ireland & Scottish Governments.
‘Shortage of joined-up services in border regions of the EU’
White-clawed crayfish
Pat Morris
Magheraveely/Kilroosky SAC
cross-border
Dummy’s Lough: a Special Area of Conservation in
Ireland but not Northern Ireland!
IT Sligo, Ulster University and AFBI
Sliabh Beagh: cross border
Collaboration is
essential for these
cross-border sites
Cuilcagh
Mountain SAC
c3000ha, 100
owners
Cuilcagh_Anierin
Uplands SAC
c7000ha, 450
owners
Scottish Natural Heritage aims to produce a Habitat Map of Scotland providing full coverage of terrestrial habitats in Scotland classified according to EUNIS classification and Annex 1 priority habitats.
Stereo colour near-infrared (sCIR)
aerial photograph interpretation
CANN partner Scottish Natural Heritage aims to produce a Habitat Map of Scotland
providing full coverage of terrestrial habitats in Scotland classified according to EUNIS
classification and Annex 1 priority habitats.
Dense vegetation with large
leaves = bright red signal,
Sparse fine-leaved vegetation =
paler white-pink signal.
Bare rock (no vegetation = bright
blue).
Good for detecting different
vegetation and habitat types as
show greater range of variation in
near-infrared than visible
spectrum.View imagery in stereo (3D) using specialised computer workstation – Summit software, 3D monitor, emitter and glasses. Digitisation done in 2D using ArcGIS at same time – connects to Summit and allows simultaneous viewing / panning / zooming.
Because of the CANN project, this method is now being trialled at these cross-border SACs
• rapid assessment and classification of habitats is achievable
AFBI and withHeritage
Scottish Natural experience
• it can be up to half the price of carrying out fieldwork alone.Sliabh Beagh: cross border sites have more than just mapping challenges
Special Area of Conservation:
only (blanket bog) area eligible for
reporting targets (hectares improved)
under CANN
Special Protection Area and Natural Heritage Area
“The birds are nesting on one side of
the border in one year and the other
side in other years. They may nest on
one side but hunt and forage on the
other side,”
Marc Ruddock
CANN partner Golden Eagle Trust“The NHA has been tortured with turf-cutting, driving the birds into remnant areas of bog (where they are vulnerable to fire) and/or young forest plantations which have badgers, pine martens etc ,which is why we often have low productivity .” Marc Ruddock CANN partner Golden Eagle Trust
“People didn’t
go into that
area at all
during the
Troubles.
People from
both sides of
the community
are just starting
CANN Sliabh Beagh facilitator Rory
Sheehan, Monaghan County Council, to get together
working predominantly in the SAC in now.”
north of the border“Closed roads divided the communities on
Sliabh Beagh and lead to land abandonment.
People feel very strongly that the whole area
needs to be integrated, roads need to be
kept open.”
“Because nobody went into that area, nobody saw
the conifers encroaching or saw the turf-cutting.
INTERREG is all about the human aspect.”How does a council in the Republic of Ireland deal with threats to the bog in Northern Ireland? Agreement reached for them to operate under a licence between a Northern Ireland partner (Ulster Wildlife) and NI Forest Service.
Cross-border projects such as CANN also give us a chance to deal with other issues such as ammonia deposition
And also some ‘newer’ problems
Critical levels of ammonia concentrations and critical
loads of N deposition exceeded for:
98% NI Special Areas of ConservationAnd also some ‘newer’ problems
Effects can be highly variable. These were a metre apartAnd in the meantime we can and keep on fixing the hydrology “The water table influences how Sphagnum utilises N. “Low water tables increase the likelihood of detrimental effects.” (Williams et al. 1999).
Challenges •Non-aligned designations and varying standards for national priorities. •Habitats and species function at a landscape scale within a political landscape. •Monitoring of mobile species populations. •Illegal activities in a contested area. •Locally led schemes need to have additional facilitation support.
Opportunities •Ireland is a single bio-geographic unit. •Sharing technology and innovation. •Trialling solutions. •Capacity building and sharing approaches to same EU Directives. •State Agencies – building partnerships and working arrangements. •Stabilising communities.
The Future •Policy: Changing environmental standards – EU Habitats and Birds Directives? •Funding: Next Interreg round – Peace Plus •Finding solutions: EIP? •Finding solutions – cross-border agreement on planning between local authorities / cross-border mixed groups to tackle specific sites
Funding structures that allow people to work cross- border in conservation are vital – even more so post Brexit! trish.fox@ulsterwildlife.org
“Heritage simultaneously crosses
borders and transcends difference
to connect people through shared
values, history and traditions”.
HC Strategic Plan 2018-2022 You can contact me at the
Heritage Office,
Monaghan County Council
shclerkin@monaghancoco.ieYou can also read
