Project Page Views: [ 765 ]
| Project Metadata Element | Details |
| Project Title | Termoncarragh - Restoration Management for Annex I Birds at Termoncarragh Lake SPA |
| Research Area | Water |
| Project Acronym | |
| Principal Investigator or Lead Irish Partner | Oran O'Sullivan (IE) |
| Lead Institution or Organisation | BirdWatch Ireland; Teagasc |
| Lead Country | Ireland |
| Latitude, Longitude (of Lead Institution) | 53.10306, -6.07019; 52.84828, -6.91743 |
| Lead Funding Entity | LIFE |
| Approximate Project Start Date | 01/06/2001 |
| Approximate Project Finishing Date | 30/11/2005 |
| Project Website (if any) | http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Ourwork/Reserves/EULIFEprojects/Termoncarragh/tabid/225/Default.aspx |
| Links to other Web-based resources | |
| Project Keywords | Agriculture; Grassland ecosystem; Lake; Conservation |
| Project Abstract | Background: Termoncarragh Lake is located on the Mullet peninsula in western Ireland amid extensive machair grassland. This coastal freshwater lake and its surrounding areas are of importance for breeding waders and wintering wildfowl, including the barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) and the Greenland white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons flavirostris). The corn crake (Crex crex) also uses the area occasionally, and there is a high potential for restoration of suitable habitat for this priority species. Annagh Marsh is a small coastal machair site, just south of Termoncarragh Lake, and within the Special Protection Area (SPA). It was until recently the only regular Irish breeding site for the red-necked phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus). The economic mainstay for the district is low-intensity agriculture within small holdings. It is essentially based on subsidies, with low returns on the sale of farming produce. An estimated 75 percent of farmers were in the national Irish scheme for EU agri-environment subsidies, called REPS, in 2000. Yet here was the paradox: this scheme, it was thought, might be hindering rather than encouraging the conservation of the local birdlife, due to a lack of awareness of species' needs, negative attitudes among farmers to site designation, inadequate linkages between farming and conservation and a lack of suitable demonstration areas for bird-friendly management. Objectives: The intention of the LIFE-Nature project was to turn the constraints facing farmers into an opportunity, both for the birds and for the local community, by demonstrating that Natura 2000 can be a positive element in realising potential socio-economic benefits for disadvantaged rural regions. Using Termoncarragh Lake and Annagh Marsh as focal points, the project aimed to restore and manage BirdWatch Ireland land and establish management agreements with local landowners on surrounding machair and farmland. Important land would be purchased, breeding birds monitored and action and management plans developed. This aimed ultimately to protect the habitats and create ideal conditions for Annex I breeding and wintering birds, The project thus hoped to demonstrate best practice to be taken on board during the mid-term review of REPS 2, so as to add a more targeted habitat enhancement dimension to the agri-environment scheme with appropriate conservation prescriptions for species and habitats in SPAs and pSCIs. This work would be accompanied by a positive information campaign to counteract previous negative perceptions of Natura 2000 designations and to encourage further uptake of the new REPS scheme. |