Environmental services

Tender description

Ireland has nominated 53 sites as Raised Bog SACs under the EU Habitats Directive and therefore is required under the directive to put in place measures to protect these sites from deterioration. The National Raised Bog SAC Management Plan sets out how these sites will be managed and restored into the future in co-operation with landowners and local communities and in keeping with legal obligations under the directive. The Cessation of Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme (CTCCS) was established in April 2011 to compensate land owners and turbary right holders affected by the restrictions on turf cutting. The scheme has largely been successful and the majority of turf-cutters have been compensated financially or via relocation to alternative non-designated bogs. However, for a number of bogs the relocation site identified may not be suitable or may not have the capacity to cater for the number of turf cutters who may wish to relocate there. In such cases and in the context of the finalisation of the National Raised Bog SAC Management Plan, the Department is examining the possibility of permitting limited cutting on a number of bogs provided it can be demonstrated that they will not impact on the integrity of the site or the conservation objectives that have been established for each SAC bog. 3 such assessments have already been carried out under a previous contract and the report for Lough Ree SAC (site code 000440) will be available for scrutiny by prospective contractors (Refer to RFT).