The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is to commission habitat condition assessments on two sites in Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí.
Established in April, Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí, is Ireland’s newest and largest national park, over over 70,000ac of land and sea in west Kerry.
The park comprises several sites of ecological, cultural, historical and archaeological significance.
Several of these sites occur within Mount Brandon Special Area of Conservation (SAC), which has been designated under the EU Habitats Directive for upland habitats.
Parts of these sites are also designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EU
Bird’s Directive, and as a nature reserve under the provisions of the Wildlife Act.
NPWS
The Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage, of which the NPWS is a division, is currently inviting tenders from service providers to update this data.
The closing date for tender submissions for the 12-month contract is November 25, 2024.
The successful tenderer will be asked to carry out a desktop review of the existing ecological datasets and a habitat condition assessment of land within the park at the Owenmore River Valley and Mount Brandon Uplands.
Habitats at these sites were last mapped during the National Survey of Upland Habitats carried out between 2011 and 2013.
The NPWS said that this project is seeking to build on the “detailed baseline” achieved during the previous survey and assess current conservation status of the habitats.
“This will support robust conservation management at this site, and data collection is expected to use a consistent methodology across the full suite of habitats present on site,” it added.
The NPWS said this is to both update and improve its understanding of the occurrence and distribution of habitats found at these locations and to record trends in habitat condition.
The project will carry out fresh surveys if deemed necessary and identify data deficiencies to better inform responses to any future management actions.
The Mount Brandon SAC is in the central and north-western parts of the Dingle Peninsula and is mountainous area that encompasses several peaks including Mount Brandon (952m), which is the highest peak outside of the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks.
The site includes the high sea cliffs of Brandon Head, as well as low-lying areas such as the Owenmore River/Cloghane River valley.
The Owenmore River Valley has several upland lakes, blanket bog and includes around 160ha of commercial conifer woodland.
The Owenmore River catchment supports a population of freshwater pearl mussel and has supported a private fishery for sea trout and salmon for many years.
The Mount Brandon Uplands covers 998ha on the north side of the Dingle Peninsula and includes the Mount Brandon Nature Reserve where there is an ongoing programme of conservation grazing by cattle in operation.