Boost for council opposed to bird protection plan

OPPOSITION by Clare County Council to the blanket designation of the Shannon estuary for protected birds has received a boost.

The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht confirmed last month it had received 124 objections to its contentious plan to designate the lower Shannon estuary a Special Protection Area (SPA) for birds.

According to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), the River Shannon and Fergus estuaries SPA site “is the most important coastal wetland site in the country and regularly supports in excess of 50,000 wintering waterfowl, a concentration easily of international importance”.

The site synopsis report states that the site has important populations of Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank.

In its objection, Clare County Council states that “the broad brush approach to site designation does not lend confidence to the process and devalues the entirety of the area designated”.

The council’s senior planner, Gordon Daly also points out that there are five deepwater ports located on the Co Clare side of the Shannon.

Mr Daly writes: “Clare County Council contends that there is insufficient bid data and scientific evidence to designate the deep water sites as Special Protection Area. In addition, there is insufficient research, data and proof of the presence of birds throughout these sites to justify this designation and to support the blanket designation over such a large area of the Shannon estuary.”

Mr Daly states that “the lack of sufficient ecological survey and scientific research of bird usage is due to the limited number and frequency of on the ground bid counts and the deficit in coverage of the aerial counts”.

The council states that in general, deep water areas are not as valuable for birds and are therefore not expected to contain as many species.

The submission states: “The habitats present within the deep water areas do not provide rich food resources for over-wintering birds.”

Now, internal department documentation appears to support the council’s contention on the natural heritage value of the deep water sites.

Released through the Freedom of Information Act, it states “the areas of deep water contained in the SPA is of lesser value to the listed water birds. These areas are not included on site integrity grounds”.

The concession is expected to strengthen the Clare County Council’s case.