State fast tracks major Wicklow Mountains peatland restoration project

By Hugh O'Farrell Walsh, The Wicklow People

The State has moved to accelerate one of its most significant ecological restoration efforts in years, approving a large, multi site peatland rehabilitation programme across the Wicklow Mountains without requiring a full appropriate assessment.

The decision, issued recently by the Department of Housing’s Ecological Assessment Unit (EAU), comes at a time when Wicklow County Council is under growing pressure to balance tourism, wildfire risk, and environmental protection in the county’s uplands.

The approved works span an area of 383 hectares across 11 sub sites within the Wicklow Mountains Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA). The project includes drain blocking, peat hag reprofiling, erosion control and hydrological restoration, measures designed to re wet degraded blanket bog and halt decades of drying and erosion.

Earlier this year the EAU signed off on Phase 3 of restoration at Liffey Head Bog, a 166 hectare site at the source of the River Liffey. That determination formed part of a multi year, phased programme that began back in 2023. This recent approval, by contrast, is a single, wide ranging package of works covering multiple upland areas, signalling a shift from incremental projects to a broader, landscape scale approach.

Both determinations classify the works as “necessary conservation measures” under the EU Habitats Directive, a designation that allows them to bypass a full Appropriate Assessment. Officials concluded that the interventions would not negatively affect protected habitats or species and would instead help reverse long term ecological decline.

The timing is notable for Wicklow County Council, which has been grappling with increasing visitor numbers, path erosion, wildfire outbreaks and pressure on upland habitats. While the restoration works are led by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), the council plays a key role in managing access, recreation infrastructure and local stakeholder engagement.

The council has repeatedly highlighted the strain on upland environments, particularly in the Wicklow Mountains National Park, where footfall has surged in recent years.

Restoring peatlands is central to Ireland’s climate and biodiversity commitments, and Wicklow’s uplands are among the most degraded in the country. Blanket bog, wet heath and dry heath habitats in the SAC are in poor condition, with artificial drainage and historic land use pressures contributing to widespread erosion. Re wetting these areas is expected to improve carbon storage, reduce sediment runoff, and stabilise slopes that have been deteriorating under heavy recreational use.

For Wicklow County Council, the restoration programme may ease some of the environmental pressures it has been warning about, though it also raises questions about how public access will be managed during construction. Machinery will need to reach remote upland areas to install peat dams and stabilise eroding peat faces, and temporary restrictions or diversions may be required on popular walking routes.

The rapid succession of approvals suggests a coordinated national push to meet upcoming EU nature restoration obligations. For Wicklow, it marks a significant intervention in a landscape that is both ecologically fragile and central to the county’s identity.