The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) has said that the “depressing predictability” of burning hills is a “symptom of political apathy” in the face of a biodiversity emergency.
The comments come as fire crews in Cork and Kerry have battled dozens of gorse fires in recent days.
The IWT has again called on Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, Charlie McConalogue, and Minister for State at the department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Malcom Noonan, to immediately ban all burning.
It also called for an education and awareness campaign targeted at landowners and the wider public, increased penalties, ecosystem restoration and transitioning to sustainable farming techniques.
“Until we see this level of response we can expect more fires into 2024 and beyond,” it said.
IWT
The IWT said that despite “the annual condemnations” of such fires, the issue is quickly forgotten until the following year “when the flames are once again licking up the sides of hills”.
“No amount of loss of wildlife, stress to local people, pollution to air and water or greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions seems to be sufficient to warrant a meaningful reaction from those in positions of authority.
“It is part of a wider pattern of deadening inaction that has seen the Irish government once again in the dock of the European Court of Justice for failing to implement the Habitats Directive,” the group said.
“The uplands, more widely, are vitally important areas from an environmental, social and cultural perspective, yet, perhaps because they don’t produce large quantities of products for exports, they have been disregarded from a policy perspective.
“Nothing tells us more about the lack of care for our natural environment than the state of Killarney National Park, which was subject to an enormous fire in 2021. It had already been degraded due to overgrazing by deer and sheep and infestations of rhododendron.
“Yet, despite the incalculable biodiversity value of the Killarney woodlands, and the urgent need to protect and restore biodiversity, we still see no meaningful response to its dilapidation. In short, nothing is being done,” IWT said.
Burning
Under Section 40 of the Wildlife Act, the cutting, grubbing, burning or other destruction of “vegetation growing in any hedge or ditch” is banned between March 1 to August 31, annually.
There are some exemptions to the regulation, including trimming hedges “in the ordinary course of gardening”, the clearance of vegetation for road or construction works and cutting hedges to improve road safety.
Minister Charlie McConalogue yesterday (Wednesday, March 1) issued a warning to landowners and members of the public not to carry out any illegal burning of land during spring and summer.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has warned that if a person burns land between the March 1 and August 31, they risk prosecution, fines and potential jail terms.
Such land will no longer be eligible for payment under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) scheme and other area-based schemes.
Inclusion of illegally burnt land in the 2023 BISS application may result in reduced payment and penalties.
Where it is identified that lands were burnt during the closed season, this may result in such land being inspected by department officials.
Furthermore, if land is burned in an uncontrolled manner between September 1 and February 28, the DAFM will also consider the lands ineligible for payment.