Friends' Work

// The vanishing Hen harrier

Read about the extraordinary removal of more than 100,000 hectares of land that should have been protected for the endangered Hen harrier. Be astonished by the documentation showing how the Minister then responsible for the designations - Eamon O Cuiv - gave Brussels ‘inflexible and unreasonable' attitude towards the Habitats Directive as a reason for voting NO in the Nice Referendum in 2001. Are we surprised then by the massive IFA public meetings that led to the banning of Duchas [The Heritage Service of the Department of the Environment] representatives from farms and Duchas's closure by the Cabinet in 2003? The designations were slashed to allow afforestation to continue when forestry represents at best only a temporary habitat and replaces a permanent habitat for these birds. Key habitats were excluded, and 10,000 hectares more forestry was permitted in protected areas which are already at carrying capacity due to existing forestry.

Read the submission.    |    See the maps showing the vanishing Hen harrier.