Kerry leads in land conservation designations

KERRY has the dubious honour of having more of its territory designated as special areas of conservation than any other county.

No less than 25.2%, or 119,697.04 of its 475,000.06 hectares, are SACs. Farmers say designations restrict production and development of their land, reducing their income and property values, and compensation on offer is inadequate.

Galway and Mayo have the largest SAC areas, respectively 129,270.64 and 124,702.53 hectares, 21.11% and 22.28% of their lands. In Munster, Clare has the second highest proportion of SAC designated land, at 12.01%, followed by Waterford’s 5.65%, Tipperary’s 3.41%, Cork’s 3.22% and Limerick’s 2.23%.