A Coolmore company has been fined €100,000 for illegally removing hedgerows. Here is why they are important and what protections they are afforded.
What exactly is a hedgerow?
It is a thick line of trees, shrubs and wildflowers growing along a road or field that acts as a boundary, windbreak, shade, shelter and containment for livestock.
A rule of thumb says the growth needs to be 20m long to qualify as a hedgerow, but very many shorter stretches exist.
A neatly trimmed privet hedge in a suburban garden does not count.
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How many hedgerows does Ireland have?
Figures vary from 400,000km to over 680,000km. Estimates of width also vary, but 2.7m is sometimes given as the average. Another measure indicates that if they were laid side by side, they would cover 186,000 hectares (460,000 acres).
Why are they important?
They are some of the densest, richest and most varied habitats we have, often boasting multiple species of trees, shrubs, herbs, grasses, ferns and wildflowers, mixed with brambles and gorse.
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Healthy hedgerows often bear many different fruits, typically blackberries, elderberries and hawthorns; lots of seeds from trees such as blackthorn, hazel, ash, alder and willow, and nectar for pollinators.
They support insects, birds, bats and small mammals, help drain waterlogged fields while slowing rainwater run-off. And they also keep soils aerated.
They act as a carbon sink by absorbing and locking away greenhouse gas emissions, add character to landscapes and look and smell fantastic.
So why would anyone want to remove them?
Hedgerows get in the way of land consolidation – amalgamating fields to create wide open spaces that can be more efficiently sown, sprayed and harvested by large agricultural machinery.
They also lose out to new housing and other developments and when roads are built or widened.
What protections do they have?
Under the 1976 Wildlife Act, the general rule is that no cutting or removal of hedgerows is allowed between March 1st and August 31st, the official nesting and breeding season.
There are broad exceptions, however, where removal is considered necessary for farming or forestry, or for construction or where the growth compromises road safety or power lines.
Outside the closed season there are few restrictions, although prior approval is needed from the National Parks and Wildlife Service to remove a hedgerow in an area designated a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area or Natural Heritage Area.
The maximum fine under the act is €100,000, but fines are rarely imposed and rarely above a few thousand euro.
To remove more than 500m of hedgerow, or remove hedgerow that would create a field of more than five hectares, the Department of Agriculture must be notified. It is then meant to screen the proposal for environmental impact.
Farmers bound by the Common Agricultural Policy or getting payments under various environmental schemes are obliged to retain hedgerows, or to replace any removed with double the length in new planting.
Are the laws well observed?
An attempt by three Green Party TDs to introduce a Protection of Hedgerows Bill in 2024 was based on the experience that regulations were often flouted. One figure quoted said 3,000km of hedgerows were disappearing every year.
The Bill would have created a register of significant hedgerows – the oldest, largest, most native and biodiverse – and would have made amendments to the Roads Act, Forestry Act, Electricity Act and other relevant pieces of legislation to tighten up the grounds for removal or reduction.
Instead, the Green Party were removed and reduced – all three of the sponsoring TDs lost their seats.
