LANDOWNERS IN Kenmare Bay in Kerry and west Cork are to be given an opportunity to make submissions on a large extension of the area’s special area of conservation (SAC).
Fine Gael in Kerry had claimed the extension was being carried out illegally by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government because landowners had not known about it.
Farm organisations also claimed the landowners should have been notified under EU legislation and should have the right to appeal any extension. Designations affected property rights, prices and restricted farm practices, the ICMSA said.
The department will republish the revised proposed boundaries for the Kenmare Bay SAC for public consultation; however the landowners will be able to have their lands excluded from the EU habitats designation on scientific advice only, according to a reply to a Dáil question on the matter.
Local Fine Gael councillor Michael Connor-Scarteen raised the matter at Kerry County Council last month, claiming the 32,000 hectare SAC was being increased “without prior consultation with local community groups, farmers and landowners”.
A deep drowned glacial valley with a wide range of marine communities, and spectacular runs of salmon and seals, the Kenmare Bay area has around 24 listed species. Sea caves for encrusting sponges, as well as marine grasslands, heath lands, dunes and large shallow inlets were also designated.
In the Dáil, the Minister of State for the Environment, Tony Killeen, confirmed to Fine Gael’s Tom Sheahan, TD for Kerry South, that the Kenmare Bay SAC was being increased by 10,000 hectares, but a large part of the additional area was at sea, and would not affect the landowners.
The landowners would now have three months to make submissions. “A request by a landowner to include or exclude land from the designation will be assessed on scientific grounds only, following which Ireland will communicate any proposed revisions to the boundary to the (EU) commission (on natural habitats) for review,” Mr Killeen said.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service has reviewed 413 SAC sites undertaking a map validation project. It is now intended that the number of sites would be increased to 423, encompassing a larger area and wider range of habitats as well as 160 special protection areas for birds, Mr Killeen added.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley will today launch a report on the status of EU protected habitats and species in Ireland.
The report gives the first assessment of the status of those habitats and species that Ireland was required to protect under the EU habitats directive and, according to the Minister’s office, it provides us with a stark message: the conservation status of some of these key habitats and species is far from satisfactory. The Midlands raised bogs, for example, are in serious danger.