GREEN: Wicklow Mountains National Park

BLUE: All Wicklow Sites Managed by Coillte

YELLOW: Proposed National Park Expansion

Open the interactive Google Earth map here: shorturl.at/dfCFK

 

This petition sets out a bold plan for nature restoration, right here in county Wicklow. We call on the Government to add 16,000 hectares of state-owned land to the 23,000 hectare Wicklow Mountains National Park. At a new total of 39,000 hectares (390 square kilometres), this would almost double Ireland's largest national park and create one truly worthy of the name!

With the introduction of the Nature Restoration Law by the EU this year, biodiversity and land use has become an important issue here in Ireland. And with good reason too, our track record when it comes to protecting wildlife is abysmal. Ireland is the 13th worst country among 240 across the world when it comes to biodiversity loss. A huge range of species native to Ireland have become extinct and about 20% of the remaining species are considered to be at risk of extinction. 

It should come as no surprise given Ireland has one of the lowest national park coverages in Europe at just a meagre 0.9% of our total land. In contrast, our nearest neighbours the UK have 8.2% of their land set aside as national parks and France has 9.5%.

The new EU law has set a target for 20% of all member states’ land to be protected for nature. The Government has repeatedly claimed that Ireland’s commitments can be met using state-owned land. But we have yet to see proposals for this.

This plan I am proposing for Wicklow Mountains National Park can be achieved without the State purchasing any additional land. It would just mean transferring management from the state agencies Coillte to the National Parks and Wildlife Service and changing the land use to nature restoration. This can be done at surprisingly low opportunity cost.   

Coillte’s total revenue in 2022 was €479m and the dividend paid to the State was €27.7m, one of its best years on record. However, when we consider Coillte manages 440,000 hectares of State land (7% of the entire country!), this is a return for the State of just €63 on average per hectare each year. It’s true Coillte’s estate is diverse, and includes more than just clearfell rotation sites. But so also does the area we are proposing in the Wicklow Mountains. By moving this proposed 16,000 hectares from Coillte into the National Park, the State will be losing, at very most, €1 million per year in timber revenue. Considering the potential gains in return that will be made for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, recreational use and the replacement income from eco-tourism, this can surely be justified.

Recently, both the Taoiseach and the Minister for Heritage expressed their desire to increase National Parks in Ireland but were concerned about the costs (specifically purchasing just 560 hectares at Conor Pass in Kerry for €10 million). This plan is an opportunity to expand our national park coverage by a dramatic 16,000 hectares and it won't cost the state a penny as we already own the land!

I am a 34 year-old native of Wicklow and I have spent all my life hiking in the Wicklow Mountains. I have seen the slow decline of what biodiversity we had left in that short time. In 2022, a group of my siblings, friends and local conservationists decided to take action ourselves. We founded the new environmental charity ReWild Wicklow. In the past two years we have recruited over 1,200 volunteers and worked on 25 different restoration projects across the county. We have seen that wildlife can bounce back. But to do so it needs large areas of native habitat. 

In truth, the only valley of the Wicklow Mountains that is forested in native trees is Glendalough. The rest are covered in non-native conifers and regularly clear-felled, killing not only the trees, but everything else in the valley. This plan seeks to add approximately nine of these valleys to the National Park, namely Glencree, Inchavore, Glenmacnass, Glendasan, Lugduff, Glenmalure, Ow River, St. Kevin’s Way and Kippure. We propose that as each section of these valleys is clear-felled over the coming years, it is ecologically assessed and where suitable replanted with mixed native woodland or restored to its original peatland habitat. Just imagine the incredible beauty and benefit for biodiversity of essentially expanding Glendalough tenfold into the surrounding valleys!

Across Europe, rewilding projects of this scale are already happening. The Affric Highlands in Scotland, the Central Apennines in Italy and the Greater Côa Valley in Portugal to name but a few. This project would be of appropriate size to become one of Ireland’s flagship nature restoration initiatives. Its scale and ambition has the potential for significant funding from the EU LIFE and Natura 2000 programmes, as well as other international bodies like Rewilding Europe, Mossy Earth, Restor and the many multinational private companies based here looking to invest in ecological restoration. With enough restored native habitat we could then look to re-introducing iconic species to the Wicklow Mountains such as hen harriers, golden eagles, common cranes, capercaillie and Arctic char to name only a few.

It's time to stop dragging our heels on biodiversity. It's time for bold and ambitious action. And we have the perfect opportunity for that right here in Wicklow. Our Wicklow Mountains were once fabled throughout this island. They were covered in dense, gnarled, native woodlands that hid legendary rebels and a spectacular array of wildlife. They were lost through colonial extraction, their mighty trees felled and much of their precious wildlife hunted to extinction. The monoculture plantations that have risen in their valleys don’t belong here. Instead we now have an opportunity to banish these last spectres of colonialism and restore these mountains to their rightful glory.

But these changes won't happen without a mass movement of people. So we need every signature we can get. Now stands before you a chance to put your name to something truly incredible to pass on to those who inherit this county. Please back this exciting plan to expand our national park right here in Wicklow. 

 

“The truth is, every one of us, no matter who we are or where we live, can and must play a part in restoring nature. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed or powerless by the scale of the issues facing our planet, but we have the solutions. Now is the time for action, and together we can save it.”

David Attenborough, speaking in Wild Isles documentary about Britain and Ireland