The Gearagh in Co. Cork, which is an important woodland and nature reserve, is receiving support to be made into a national park.
The site is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), and is located on the River Lee, close to Macroom.
The alluvial woodland which remains today at the Gearagh is of unique scientific interest, and qualifies as a priority habitat under Annex I of the E.U. Habitats Directive.
The area is thought to have been wooded since the end of the last Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago.
However, in the 1950s, extensive tree felling and flooding were carried out to facilitate the operation of a hydro-electric scheme and around 60% of the former woodland was lost.
Fianna Fáil TD Aindrias Moynihan has called for the site to be made a national park, as he confirmed that the “ESB, which owns most of the land, considers a management plan for the inland delta of the river Lee”.
Deputy Moynihan stated that the ESB confirmed to him that it is “engaging with the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) ahead of the publication of the plan”.
It is anticipated this engagement will take place over the coming weeks.
Calls for a national park
Deputy Moynihan said: “The Gearagh deserves to be recognised as a national park. It is a hugely important natural habitat, an inland delta of the river Lee.
“This year marks the 70th anniversary of the area being flooded to facilitate the building of the two hydro-electric dams in Carrigadrohid and Inniscarra. The area needs to be protected and given the resources it needs.
“There are only a handful of national parks in the country, none of which are in Co Cork. The Gearagh is undervalued.
“If it was designated as a national park it would result in greater biodiversity. It would also be hugely important for boosting tourism but in a controlled manner,” Deputy Moynihan added.
Along the Gearagh, the river channels grade into marginal alluvial grassland in places. These grasslands, as well as some semi-improved grasslands within the site, are grazed by wildfowl.
Despite the fact that about half the original area has been destroyed, the Gearagh still represents the only extensive alluvial woodland in Ireland or Britain, or indeed west of the Rhine in Europe.
For this reason it is a unique site and has been designated also as a Statutory Nature Reserve
Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Malcolm Noonan recently told Deputy Moynihan, in response to a parliamentary question, that the Gearagh is a “privately owned site that has not been considered for national park status”.
Minister Noonan said: “The site is owned largely by the ESB. I understand a management plan scoping exercise was undertaken by ESB International on behalf of the ESB in 2016/2017.
“The NPWS of my department contributed as part of the stakeholder group to the report produced as a result of that exercise.
“I understand that the ESB has now completed a draft management plan which is being considered by ESB management, and that the NPWS has offered to engage with the site owners in relation to the draft plan,” Minister Noonan added.
The Gearagh
Green Party Macroom local election candidate Harriet Burgess and Macroom-based ecologist Kevin Corcoran believe that the Gearagh could make a valuable addition to Ireland’s national parks.
In addition to this, they maintain that designating the Gearagh as a national park would contribute hugely to eco-tourism in the Macroom area.
“Helping to restore our native forests, through designating the Gearagh as a national park, would further help preserve biodiversity and combat climate breakdown in the south of Ireland,” they added.
They have created an online petition, which currently has 500 signatures, for the Gearagh to be designated a national park.