Hen harrier restrictions affect Munster farmers
In counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick, The Stacks and Mullaghareirk Mountains, West Limerick Hills, Mount Eagle, Mullaghanish and Musheramore Mountains, and the Slievefelim and Silvermines hills extending from Limerick into Tipperary, will all have Hen Harrier Special Protection Areas.
New forest planting will be restricted by an annual quota system in these areas, and areas which will be designated in the Slieve Beagh area of Co Monaghan, the Slieve Aughty Mountains of Clare and Galway, and Slieve Bloom Mountains of Laois and Offaly.
IFA’s Farm Forestry Chairman, John Jackson, welcomed the agreement, saying it will allow forestry to be an important land use option in the designated areas. “Any farmers who have been held up from planting over the last few months should be able to plant in the current year” he said.
Under the new rules, the heath-bog habitat which is important for the hen harrier will be fully preserved. The objective will be to establish a mosaic of different landscape types in hen harrier areas that will encourage the further development of the species.
This should include young forestry, both new and replanted, which the recent research has shown to be vital in the foraging pattern of the bird.
All applications for approval to plant new forests in these areas had been suspended pending agreement on this new management regime, but it is expected that decisions will be made quickly in these cases. Areas available for forest planting will be identified by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), and the Forest Service will be responsible for processing planting applications, and will implement the new regime immediately.
Environment Minister Dick Roche said the regime represents a balance between good and sensible environmental practice and legitimate desire for sustainable development.
Mary Wallace, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food with responsibility for forestry, said: “I have no doubt but that forestry can play an important role in the recovery of species such as the hen harrier in the same way that species such as the red squirrel and the pine marten now find refuge in these forests.”
