Donegal is playing a central part in an international study of ancient boglands.
The Blanket Bog Project is a research initiative to identify and evaluate shallow blanket bogs, a rare type of peatland, globally.
The project currently has over 25 study areas across Spain, Scotland, England, Norway, The Falkland Islands and Ireland.
Dr Guaduneth Chico is the Principal Investigator involved in the research. He is currently a Lecturer in Environmental Sciences and GIS at Nottingham Trent University and is leading the Peatlands Research Group in the British Ecological Society.
“In Ireland, we have three study areas,” he explained to Donegal Daily.
Dr Guaduneth Chico
“We have one in the Wicklow Mountains, one in Kerry and finally one in Glenveagh National Park where we are doing a more detailed study to understand blanket bog pressures and how we can better manage this habitat. Hopefully the information collected in Donegal will help the team to better understand this habitat, not only in Ireland, but also globally.”
Nottingham Trent University in England is leading this project and Dr Chico says there is a large team involved.
“We also have a large range of collaborators across the world in each site, including all stakeholders, such as universities, research institutes and governments,” he added.
In Donegal, they are collaborating with Glenveagh National Park and the LIFE IP project Wild Atlantic Nature, in conjunction with the National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS).
Erosion at one of the study sites. Pic: Dr Guaduneth Chico
He said these collaborations help them to develop the project and also to add additional research aspects, adapted to the local characteristics of the site.
“For example, in Donegal, we are really interested to find out how livestock is interacting with the peatlands and what we can do to improve the ecosystem services.”
The study started in Spain in 2016 and expanded to the rest of Europe in 2020.
“In Ireland, we set up our first sites in summer 2021 and we are expecting to do our second data collection in summer 2023. In our site in Donegal, we are doing long-term research, at least until 2026.”
For further information on the project, log on to https://www.theblanketbogproject.com/
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