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01/07/2016
Legislation Proposed For De-Designation Of Almost 40 Raised Bog NHAs
Almost 40 raised bog Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs) have been marked as priority for de-designation under draft legislation announced by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys.
The Minister will now submit the General Scheme of the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht for pre-legislative scrutiny.
The publication of the legislation is identified as a 100 Day Action in the Programme for a Partnership Government.
Announcing the legislation, Minister Humphreys said: "This legislation is an important step forward in terms of securing a long term resolution for turf cutters. The legislation will implement the recommendations of the Review of Raised Bog Natural Heritage Area Network, which was approved by Government in 2014. It concluded that Ireland could more effectively conserve threatened raised bog habitats through focused protection and restoration of a reconfigured network.
"This will result in the phasing out of turf cutting on certain existing NHAs by January 1st 2017 in addition to the partial or complete de-designation of certain NHAs. There will be around 2,500 fewer actively cut turf plots in the reconfigured network.
"I have now put forward a proposed Bill to de-designate 39 Natural Heritage Areas and part de-designate 7 Natural Heritage Areas, in line with the Programme for a Partnership Government. It is my hope that de-designating these bogs will help with the relocation process, which is an important piece of the overall resolution for turf cutters."
(MH)
The Minister will now submit the General Scheme of the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht for pre-legislative scrutiny.
The publication of the legislation is identified as a 100 Day Action in the Programme for a Partnership Government.
Announcing the legislation, Minister Humphreys said: "This legislation is an important step forward in terms of securing a long term resolution for turf cutters. The legislation will implement the recommendations of the Review of Raised Bog Natural Heritage Area Network, which was approved by Government in 2014. It concluded that Ireland could more effectively conserve threatened raised bog habitats through focused protection and restoration of a reconfigured network.
"This will result in the phasing out of turf cutting on certain existing NHAs by January 1st 2017 in addition to the partial or complete de-designation of certain NHAs. There will be around 2,500 fewer actively cut turf plots in the reconfigured network.
"I have now put forward a proposed Bill to de-designate 39 Natural Heritage Areas and part de-designate 7 Natural Heritage Areas, in line with the Programme for a Partnership Government. It is my hope that de-designating these bogs will help with the relocation process, which is an important piece of the overall resolution for turf cutters."
(MH)
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