Gorse and bog fires damaging the Irish Environment

In the last week 16 counties have been fighting to quench fires on peat lands or gorse fires. These fires have caused enormous damage to the environment. Fires in Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Donegal and Offaly have caused the most damage. Some fires have been started deliberately but most fires have been caused due to the land been to dry for this time of the year. The recent warm spells have left the ground warmer than average. A cigarette discarded could easily spark off a fire or a piece of shattered glass.


These fires are wrecking havoc on various habitats. Due to herbage been burnt away meaning a loss in food sources. Birdwatch Ireland  says 'the last two winters have had a detrimental effect on bird numbers and that the present spate of fires will make it difficult for species to mate again. The loss of food sources such as insects will prove detrimental for birds'.


The organisation believes the most affected species will be, twite, red grouse, grasshopper warbler, whitethroat, linnet, stonechat, dunnock, curlew, blackbird and meadow pipit.
“We are in the middle of the nesting season and tens of thousands of chicks and eggs have been destroyed”,Birdwatch Ireland’s John Murphy stated. 


In Donegal and Mayo, the rare Cuckoo has been affected by the worst gorse fires have occurred. Red Grouse is also dangerously affected.  The Red grouse is on the Red Data list. It has only over 4,200 individuals(2008). They live in bogs, moors and higher terrains. 


One of Ireland's rarest birds the Twite which is common along the west especially in North West  and Donegal. It is a finch that lives in areas of heather and gorse.


Gorse fires in Ireland are different to those in other countries. “Gorse and bog fires in Ireland are different in many respects to similar fires in Scotland, for example, as the compacted peat (up to 20ft deep in places) that lies underneath the gorse here continues to smoulder long after the gorse fires have been extinguished. Scotland’s granite terrain means that the gorse fire is faster burning and does not penetrate as deep underground and therefore the effects on wildlife are not as significant. In Ireland, the grass that grows in the aftermath of such fires benefits cattle and sheep only and not the birds and food sources that previously inhabited the area.” 
“Another consequence of these fires is that birds in the affected areas have been forced to relocate in large numbers to secondary habitats, where resources are limited and the terrain is less suitable”, John Murphy-Birdwatch Ireland

http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/                                                                  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorse

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twite

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Grouse

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Ireland