In Ireland’s rainy and windy Achill Island, local shepherd Stephen Gavin (64) has been collecting peat from a bog near his home since April. As Gavin cuts a rectangle of peat from the bog at his feet, the distinctive sweet smell of bog soil fills the air. Gavin began harvesting peat (the Irish word for carbon-rich soil harvested from bogs) with his parents when he was 12 years old. He piles the peat and leaves it outside to dry in the warm season, and the peat will fuel his fireplace the following year, just as his ancestors did.
Many homes in the west of Ireland are over 100 years old and cannot be fitted with modern heating technology without a complete renovation, forcing locals like Gavin to rely solely on backyard fuel products. [heating systems] “I have a house that would have to have all the floors taken out, the whole house would be totally destroyed,” Gavin said.
When it comes to mowing, the harvested peat is first spread out to dry as the weather warms, and then the sod is “trodden” – piled into little towers where the wind blows through and dries. Courtesy of Stephen Gavin.
In Ireland, with no natural petroleum resources and limited natural gas, grass has been one of the few reliable sources of fuel for over 1000 years. Grass-cutting has become a tenet of Irish culture, but is increasingly problematic. In 2022, the Irish government banned the commercial sale of grass, but people who have historically enjoyed grass-cutting rights, like Gavin, are still allowed to cut grass for personal use. The EU has designated Ireland’s peat bogs as “priority” conservation areas under the Habitats Directive, which means Ireland must protect these natural habitats from harmful activities such as grass-cutting that could further degrade damaged bogs. Ireland has funded a large-scale bog restoration campaign, while the EU has funded the restoration of peat bogs. Recently Announced It will take Ireland to the Court of Justice for not doing enough to protect endangered wetlands.
Bogs, also known as peatlands, Carbon Storage Ireland is the most effective carbon sink on the planet. (Ireland has less than 1% of the world’s peatland, but 8% of its peatland of any one type is rare Peatlands absorb and store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined.
Peatlands could be a climate feedback loop we definitely don’t want to trigger
When these sites are cleared, carbon is released, the soil dries out, and the natural wet conditions of the marsh are reduced. release This produces approximately one tonne of carbon emissions per year. Equivalent If you drive your car over 9,000 miles, that doesn’t include the emissions from burning grass. More than twice as much Carbon dioxide is emitted by the burning of natural gas, and as a result, restoring moors is essential to meet Europe’s net-zero carbon target by 2050, protect biodiversity and provide habitat for threatened species such as the curlew, an Irish coastal bird whose memorable song has inspired Irish artists. Poet WB Yeats.
“There is no wetland in Ireland that has not been affected by turf mowing,” says Tristram White. Conservation Officer, Irish Peatland Conservation CouncilA national organisation that advocates for the protection of wetlands in Ireland. Climate Action Plan The charity says only 25 percent of Ireland’s moors remain intact due to over-exploitation.
One reason is mowing. Like his ancestors, Gavin has what’s called a turbary right to cut grass from the moors. But mowing also takes place on public land, including protected moors. These protected areas are covered by the EU Habitats Directive and have been designated Special Protection Areas because of their uniqueness and rarity. The EU first complained about the degradation of Ireland’s moors more than a decade ago. The Irish government has stepped up conservation efforts and there has been a noticeable reduction in mowing, but progress has been “insufficient,” the European Commission said. As a result, the Commission referred Ireland to the European Court of Justice in March.
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This turf war comes at a time when Ireland has already made great strides in protecting its wetlands. Bullied By the EU.
“The Habitats Directive requires member states to protect our most precious natural habitats, but where does this fit in? And where is their right to live, heat and feed their families?” Sean Caney“Surely human life is more precious than bog land,” the Irish independent politician and former minister of state said on his website.
The Irish government is looking to work with farmers to protect these areas and plans to do so in 2022. $1.6 billion in funding and registrations Gavin and 20,000 other farmers are studying the impacts of mowing and invasive species on the reserve’s wetlands. “As long as you improve the commons, you’re paid to participate in the program,” Gavin said of the public lands. Under the program, farmers can receive about $11,200 a year depending on their efforts. Farmers are paid based on how well they improve the land by reducing mowing, preventing overgrazing, and managing invasive species on the reserve.
Water levels in bog soils stop plant decomposition and dead plant matter accumulates, meaning bogs need water to capture carbon. Restoration actions include rewetting bogs (blocking drainage sites to raise the bog’s water table) and planting peat-forming moss to turn carbon-producing bogs into carbon sinks again. Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service And that Lawn Mowing Associationor TCCA, works with farmers to re-wet and restore wetlands while meeting their lawn care needs. TCCA was founded in 1998 by and for lawn care workers to fight against government-led lawn care sanctions that were leaving people without heat in their homes.
TCCA Chairman Michael FitzmauriceHe said only 12 of the 62 areas protected by the EU directive have been cleared for grass and that up to 14,000 acres of wetlands have been rewetted so far. “We will sit down together to see where the boundaries are. [the farmers] “We’ll look at where work needs to be done and where it needs to be preserved so that we don’t impact the land,” he said.
He said that if the EU’s threats went too far, it would scare farmers away from the Recovery Agreement. FitzmauriceHe grew up farming on the marshes of the west of Ireland and later became an advocate for the preservation of turf-mowing practices.
“You can’t go from zero to hero overnight,” he says. “If you’re making 13,000 euros a year, [approximately $14,000 USD] “When I see a 747 flying overhead, I stop mowing the lawn.”
Times are changing on Achill Island. It’s now too wet and hot for Gavin to graze his cattle outside or plant potatoes early in the year. Climate ChangeThe moors, once filled with the calls of curlews, are now silent, and the typical scent of the island’s grass burning has been reduced to a faint whiff. He worries about the future of grass-cutting. There is only one farmer on the island who still cuts the moors by hand, rather than with a machine, a symbol of a lost tradition. Pressure from the EU to stop grass-cutting altogether also does not bode well.
“Older people aren’t very good at protesting,” Gavin said. “I’m worried that mowing the lawn will be a thing of the past in the next decade.”
