Donal Hickey: Drones and satellites to monitor Irish bogs and identify peatland areas under threat
CeADAR, Ireland’s centre for applied artificial intelligence (AI,) is exploring how AI can monitor and protect our peatlands and boost biodiversity through restoration
It's been a great summer for the diminishing numbers of people who still cut turf. Due to the prolonged dry spell, many had the harvest home by mid-June, earlier than usual.
Scattered sods, which fell from tractor trailers onto the roads in the highland countryside straddling the borders of counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick, told the story.
Sometimes the term ‘bogman’ is a putdown. The renowned essayist, columnist and observer of human behaviour, Con Houlihan, would vehemently disagree — unsurprisingly, for he was proud to call himself a bogman.
He had high regard for the men with whom he worked in the bogs above his native Castleisland, County Kerry, appreciating their wisdom and understanding of nature. “In a season in the bog, you will see a man’s inner being revealed as surely as you would in Dalymount, or Croke Park, or Lansdowne Road," he wrote.
AI2Peat aims to use AI to map and monitor Ireland's existing peatlands in order to support peatland restoration and biodiversity. The team includes data scientists from CeADAR. Take a look at the newly launched https://t.co/3VC9p4VNLr for more info.#biodiversity #DataScience https://t.co/CK38odicPW
— CeADAR Ireland (@CeADARIreland) June 8, 2023
We wonder what the late Con, an exceptionally bright, knowledgeable man, would make of news that CeADAR, Ireland’s centre for applied artificial intelligence (AI,) is exploring how AI can monitor and protect our peatlands and boost biodiversity through restoration.
A research team also plans to use information gathered by drones, satellites, and citizen scientists to develop an all-Ireland mapping solution; to identify peatland areas under threat from erosion, exploitation, and climate change, and to select areas of high conservation value.
Peatlands store vast amounts of carbon and plant life. Over decades, however, drainage of bogs for farming, forestry, and turf-cutting on an industrial scale has turned these areas from carbon sinks to carbon emitters.
Peatlands cover around 17% of the country’s land surface. Amid calls for a ban on turf-cutting, their protection has become a sensitive issue in rural Ireland.
The AI project also involves the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre. Dr Oisin Boydell of CeADAR, said they hope to influence policy around environmental protection, climate change and biodiversity.
A key member of the team is Dr Shane Regan, a senior NPWS scientist and a peatlands expert, who said the State has an ‘enormous challenge’ in protecting a vast array of habitats, with the majority of peatlands in poor condition.
“Improvements in the ways we can remotely detect high-quality areas for protection, and areas that can potentially be restored with intervention measures, will be enormously beneficial and help direct financial resources to areas where they are most needed," Dr Regan stated.
It’s not that long ago since bogs were regarded as wastelands, only fit for tree-planting and even dumping. Now, they’re seen as natural treasures to be protected and restored, aided by several Government-funded schemes.
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