Issues
| Lifting turf |
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Peat/turf cutting
Cutting for domestic fuel has caused the greatest decline
in Northern Ireland peatlands. With the demise of native
woodlands, peat became the major source of fuel in Ireland
during the 17th and 18th centuries. Rights to cut peat on
small plots of land, known as turbary rights, were allocated
to landowners. Traditionally peat was cut by hand using
a special turf-spade known as a sleán or slane. Hand-cut
turf production in Ireland reached its peak in 1926 when
over six million tonnes of turf was cut.
Over the years the amount of turf cut declined steadily
until World War II, when peat became a vital domestic fuel
source again as the supplies of coal from Great Britain
almost ceased. The deep peat in raised bogs and the extensive
areas of blanket bogs were cut extensively.
| Puddling turf |
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The use of fen peat as a source
of fuel, known as mud turf, was less common because the
peat is very shallow and cannot be cut with a spade. Instead,
mud turf is gathered by digging a hole and mixing water
with the peat, then tramping or "puddling" it
with bare feet, shovelling it onto the bank and finally
moulding it into blocks by hand. This was a very labour
intensive process and was only practised in a few areas,
such as Brackagh Moss in County Armagh.
After the War the low price of coal and oil kept peat cutting
to a minimum, and by the 1970s the annual production of
peat was down to about a million tonnes, mostly from the
blanket bogs in the west. However, the introduction of tractor-drawn
auger machines during the 1980s increased the amount of
peat cut again. Since then mechanised peat extraction has
become the norm in Northern Ireland and the tradition of
hand-cutting turf has almost disappeared.
In Northern Ireland 77.5% of raised bogs have been cut
for fuel. The majority of peat cutting was for domestic
purposes, but the relatively limited commercial extraction
for fuel has had important local effects. Commercial extraction
needs planning consent, but the complexity of land ownership
and turbary rights sometimes makes the distinction between
commercial and domestic cutting difficult to determine.
46% of Northern Ireland's blanket bog has been subjected
to hand-cutting for fuel. In recent years there has been
a trend towards the tractor-mounted method, which is one
of the reasons that blanket bog continues to disappear.
Most mechanised cutting happens on peatland that has been
hand cut in the past but at least 14% takes places on previously
intact peatland.
In addition to the actual damage caused by removing the
peat, two key biological aspects of the peatland habitat
are adversely affected – the water balance and surface
vegetation. Archaeological sites are often damaged or removed.
For example timber structures can be cut through and have
their survival threatened as the peat cover dries out.
| Machine cutting |
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Water balance
The effects of mechanised turf cutting, the most widespread
method in Northern Ireland, are much greater than hand cutting.
Nearly all types of turf cutting need some level of drainage,
but the areas and extent of drainage required for machine
cutting are obviously much greater. Drainage leads to changes
outside of the area being cut, caused by drying out the
peat and altering the vegetation it supports. The channels
left by machine cutting also act as drains, further increasing
water removal from the ecosystem.
An example of the problems that mechanised cutting can
cause is very evident at the Marble Arch Caves in Fermanagh.
In 1989 it was noted that the volume and speed of the rivers
entering the cave system from the blanket bogland of Cuilcagh
Mountain had increased significantly. The caves had to be
closed to visitors for health and safety reasons when water
levels were high, which adversely affected tourism in the
region. There is also concern that an increase in sediments
in the river water could affect the stalagmite and stalactite
formations within the cave. Research has since shown that
machine cutting of peat on Cuilcagh Mountain contributed
to the increased water in these caves.
Removing water from any peatland has an impact on the
archaeological value of the site. Organic materials are
preserved in peat because the high water content inhibits
the presence and actions of microorganisms. Removing water
can result in increased microbial activity, causing the
decay of preserved organic material such as wooden containers,
clothing, timber structures such as trackways and houses
and even human remains.
Surface vegetation
Repeated cuts and machine travel on peatlands destroy the
surface vegetation, which can erode and destabilise the
entire surface of the bog. Research in Northern Ireland
has shown that machine cutting decreases the height and
biomass of the vegetation and rapidly reduces the invertebrate
populations. Animals further up the food chain such as birds
and mammals are directly affected as there is less food
and poor cover for nesting.
The Department of the Environment (DoE) and the Department
of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) have a number
of measures in place to prevent unsustainable turf cutting
practices in Northern Ireland. The Government has produced
"Conserving Peatlands
in Northern Ireland - A Statement of Policy", which
outlines the measures it will take to regulate commercial
peat extraction. This policy also proposed a code of good
practice for domestic extraction, which is now available
as a booklet from the Countryside Management Division of
DARD, "Peat Cutting - reducing the damage".
