Made a flying visit down to Kerry to see the plot in the winter time. Leaving at seven in the morning from Dublin Heuston we took the train down to Killarney and drove through the National Park to Sneem. Everything was draped in a thick blanket of fog, so thick we did not even see the property or any of the landscape at all on the first day. The air was full of water, drenching everything growing through it, really showing us how wet this place could be.
Exploring the plot was a challenge given how undulating the whole place is and the ground actually moving beneath our feet made it hard to even keep balance as we paused to take photographs and document what we could see. The land rolls from diverse pockets of woodland scrub to rocky outcrops with interrelated wet, wetlands between them.
Wetlands, mires and peatlands have come to be over the last few years as the land reverted to its natural state. Culverts collapsed and drains were blocked due to a careful lack of maintenance, creating this very wet and wild habitat.
Emergent pockets of forestry throughout the property have co-evolved with the suckler cows which roam all over. In an otherwise much more anthropocentric landscape. This area is of high value to nature and biodiversity with its mosaic of different habitats providing a stepping stone between the hinterlands and the sea for all sorts of wildlife. The Kenmare River SAC (EU designated Special Area of Conservation) at the foot of the property provides a blue glow between the winter colours on the property and the mountains on the far side.
There is a farm orchard that has hardy native varieties of apple, mulberry and plum for the enjoyment of the landowner as well as wildlife. The mosaic of different habitats around the rest of the property are supported by the lattice of old field boundaries left behind that seed a variety of plants up high enough so they are not completely inundated by the water that supports the bog which is the main habitat throughout the property.
Peatlands consist of mainly sphagnum moss that has only partially decomposed. A huge amount of carbon has already been sequestered here under the ground, or should I say water. In order to get a more formal reading we are going to have an approved ecologist measure the peat depth throughout. Each metre the peat stretches down for is equivalent to approximately a thousand years worth of carbon storage. So this is already an incredibly valuable carbon sink that will now be preserved and nurtured going forward.
As a consequence of this incredibly valuable habitat needing to maintain its wetness for the land to function as a carbon sink the Site Specific Stewardship Agreement precludes any drainage from the property being reinstated. Afforestation of these peatlands would sadly be a disaster in terms of the huge amounts of carbon dioxide that would be released. Giving the land the space needed for natural succession of pioneering woodland scrub species into more mature woodlands that include grand gnarly old oaks will take time and is best done without human intervention. Land is a slow business.
It is hard to underestimate the importance of habitats like this and the range of environmental services provided. From the observations made while we were there this is an incredibly healthy blanket bog sustaining heather and gorse which are great for pollinators as well as birds. There wasn’t an area that stood out as being proliferated by willow trees or sally as they are more commonly known here in Ireland (presumably derived from the latin name for their genus; Salix). A small grouping of cattle roam the property keeping the grass down. There were also some hares that we spotted around dusk and a bird of prey balancing itself on a wind current before skillfully diving down to catch its evening meal. In the summer we already observed the wide variety of specialist plants suited to the wet conditions of the bog including insectivorous plants such as sundew or CailÃs Mhuire in Irish. Beside a wide array of dragonflies, damselflies, lizards and frogs that we did not meet this time around.
Given how this habitat has been nurtured through what some would consider neglect, we want to ensure that the water levels are maintained whilst bolstering the mosaic of habitats throughout the site. The land needs to be kept wet for the bog to do its job and continue storing more and more carbon year after year. Carefully balancing the grazing pressures, with too little grazing fire may threaten the bog while too much will destroy its ecology. Guidelines suggest a limit of one sheep per hectare or one cow for every ten hectares.
While we did not observe any significantly large stands of water tolerant trees proliferating throughout the property their emergence would indicate that the underlying hydrology is changing and the bog subsequently becoming drier as a result of their growth. Willow and alder trees starting to gain a hold would be a sign that we have work to do in terms of ensuring drainage from the land is further restricted. Monitoring for the re-emergence of rhododendron and other invasive species such as self seeding conifers so that they can be removed is also important. Bracken and gorse may also need to be managed as these can quickly take over a site and degrading the ability of the bog to sequester carbon.
Besides the areas highlighted on the map above everything else is a series of interrelated wetlands punctuated by rocky outcrops. The old field boundaries serve as a lattice for a range of plants for which the land below is too wet. The pockets of forest throughout the property exist in small dells or on raised mounds growing willow, holly, oak, birch, ivy, gorse, whitebeam and hawthorn with thorns several inches long.
This trip has really furthered our understanding of the habitats contained here and reassured us that the fencing is adequate to prevent the ingress of livestock from neighbouring farms. It was also good to see that there has so far been very minimal resurgence of rhododendrons throughout the property and we can easily manage what is left. It remains to be seen what the prevalence of gunnera is like in the summer months when and if it re-emerges in the warmer months of the year.
The process of contracting a certified ecologist from the approved directory of professionals for forestry projects is underway. Once we have their report we will be able to determine the best path forward in terms of spaces where afforestation may be appropriate. We are looking more to other properties for sites that we could establish a tree nursery on with the seeds that we have so far collected, these will all be planted out in containers for the foreseeable future.
We will continue to monitor and record indicator species to determine the health of the various habitats throughout and understand if there are any changes in the underlying hydrology.
Look out for further announcements in the new year of even more hectares being added to BÚAN_fund.