President Michael D Higgins & raised bogs

RealExpert

I could be wrong here but did President Michael D Higgins betray us (the bog owners) by signing the Habitats Directive in 1997?

Unregistered.

No.

Cookie_Monster

why would that be a betrayal?

RealExpert

Maybe betray is the wrong word how about sell us out instead.I think this should have gone under farming and not politics because I am hoping to get a response from the farming community or bog owners.

MODS feel free to move or delete it.

Cookie_Monster

I still don't understand what you mean by it. It's created areas for rare / endangered species to survive and safe guarded at least some small sections of land for future generations to enjoy. It benefits the nation & society and the environment both by providing habitat and limiting industrialisation and burning of more turf.
Unless your only goal as a bog owner is to mine it into non existence then no, he hasn't betrayed or sold you out

RealExpert

I do think people should not be allowed to cut turf for commercial purpose.Maybe allocate quotas for each turf bank and it will last for generations as it has done so already.
Cookie Monster You say
It's created areas for rare / endangered species to survive
I dont agree because people will simply set fire to the bog and there goes that argument and that benefits no one.

My goal as a bog owner is to pass it on to the next generation not "mine it into non existence"

You are obviously not a bog owner

Cookie_Monster

RealExpert wrote: »

I dont agree because people will simply set fire to the bog and there goes that argument and that benefits no one.

why will people simply do that? And if they do they can't be prosecuted anyway?

RealExpert wrote: »

My goal as a bog owner is to pass it on to the next generation not "mine it into non existence"

so how does this impact your passing it on?

RealExpert wrote: »

You are obviously not a bog owner

no

OpenYourEyes

People will not simply set fire to all of the bogs! And I'd guess that, given how water-logged an intact bog is, if someone did manage to set it alight, it would still be able to perform its ecosystem services soon afterwards!

Bogs that havn't been drained support a huge number of species of plants and animals, and provide very significant ecosystem services like carbon storage, water retention which helps prevent flooding of rural areas and rivers, and water filtration too. Protecting the raised bogs that are intact or that are potentially capable of regeneration benefits everyone.

Signing the habitats directive also benefitted everyone by protecting other habitats and a huge range of ecosystem services ,
Also, biodiversity is worth a minimum of €2.6 billion to the Irish economy each year. Worth keeping in mind!

Scofflaw

Cutting a bog is mining, same as coal mining - bogs grow at about a millimetre a year. Hand-cutting doesn't make bog-cutting sustainable, it just means depletion takes longer.

There's plenty of bog that's of little scientific value (although a hell of a lot less than there was), and nobody is objecting to cutting on those bogs. Why anyone would need to cut - specifically, now - a bog that's of scientific value rather than a bog that isn't is strange. It's like saying you've got to have some stone, and if that stone happens to be a bit of Newgrange or a ring fort, well, so what, you've got to have some stone.

Not that the latter attitude is uncommon, mind you.

cordially,
Scofflaw

StillWaters

RealExpert wrote: »

I dont agree because people will simply set fire to the bog and there goes that argument and that benefits no one.

My goal as a bog owner is to pass it on to the next generation not "mine it into non existence"

You are obviously not a bog owner

Why would they set fire to the bog?

Maudi

i still think they got turf cutters off because theres plans down the line to build wind turbines on the exposed bogs..

Lapin

Referring to his status as President in the thread title to question a directive he signed as a Minister 16 years ago is a little disingenuous.

Cody Pomeray

StillWaters wrote: »

Why would they set fire to the bog?

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

why will people simply do that?

You burn the bog to clear way for turfcutting.
It's also a legitimate land management exercise for shooters.

Nothing illegal about burning the bogs if you give notice and burn within the allowed range on the calendar.

IrishHomer

Cody Pomeray wrote: »

You burn the bog to clear way for turfcutting.
It's also a legitimate land management exercise for shooters.

Nothing illegal about burning the bogs if you give notice and burn within the allowed range on the calendar.

Your way off the mark there totally incorrect.

Cody Pomeray

IrishHomer wrote: »

Your way off the mark there totally incorrect.

Fair enough if I am, where do you say I am wrong?

OpenYourEyes

Strip-burning of heather is carried out by hunters to provide the right mix of habitat (i.e. young and old heather plants) for Red Grouse. So rotational strip burning is carried out as a legitimate conservation technique.

But that doesn't seem to be what the OP was talking about!