Duhallow group bid to save Ballydesmond's Barna Bog for birdlife

Preliminary steps are under way to create a community amenity at a cutaway bog which has become a unique habitat for some of Ireland’s most endangered species.

Much of Barna Bog in Duhallow has been owned and controlled by Bord na Móna for more than 60 years but it does not have an EU designation as an area of special protection or conservation.

A community-based integrated rural development company, IRD Duhallow, is currently involved in negotiations with Bord na Móna seeking to lease, or buy the unique habitat, on behalf of the community.

Duhallow, as a region, encompasses north-west Cork, east Kerry and is bordered by Limerick. Locals are anxious to have gaps filled in the designation of the bogland and have it preserved.

Commercial turf cutting there has long ceased and the 4km-long Barna Bog, near Ballydesmond, has developed its own identity.

Dr Brin McDonnell of the Duhallow Birdwatch Group says it is time to secure the conservation designation.

“Barna Bog is integral to the surrounding Special Protection Area (SPA) and perhaps it is time to evaluate its full potential for the community and threatened bird species listed under EU directives,” he said.

Local interests in securing control of the bogland comes as Bord na Móna continues to deny speculation that the site could be sold, possibly for wind farm development.

Hares, frogs and even the occasional lizard are found there, but it is the bird life that is most remarkable. The range of species includes hen harrier, peregrine falcon and merlin along with three species of owl — long eared, barn and short eared. Curlew calls can also be heard.

It is also home to the meadow pipit, the nursemaid of the cuckoo, along with red grouse and is essential to wintering birds like snipe and woodcock.

Its designation is important to the development of the an EU project on birds such as the hen harrier.

Some of the surrounding areas such as Stack’s Mountains, Mullaghateirk and West Limerick Hills enjoy the EU-backed SPA status which Barna does not.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service, meanwhile, is in the middle of mapping and analysing data on the hen harrier and other species.

While the SPA designation is very important to the harrier, it is “only one strand”.

“Many of the protective measures associated with the Birds Directive equally apply to those proportions of bird populations that occur outside of the SPA network and this is reflected in our national legislation as well,” Dr McDonnell said.

The growing appreciation of Barna, he added, mirrors a shift in thinking about bogs and particularly cutaway bogs — that they are no longer wastelands.