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Fen Management Handbook - Scottish Natural Heritage

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Case Study 7.1<br />

<strong>Fen</strong> Water <strong>Management</strong><br />

– Montiagh’s Moss<br />

Montiaghs Moss (pronounced “Munchies”), which lies a short distance from the<br />

eastern shore of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland (grid reference J092653), was<br />

formerly a lowland raised bog. The site has been cut-over to the extent that no<br />

remnants of original bog surface remain. The site is linked to Lough Neagh and<br />

to nearby Portmore Lough by a man-made watercourse called the Navvies Drain.<br />

Successive lowering of Lough Neagh over the past 150 years has probably taken<br />

the water table down by about 2.3 m.<br />

Historically many families would have cut peat on the bog and although some of<br />

the fen peat could have been cut and dried directly for burning, most of the site<br />

demanded a different technique called puddling. The peat was wetted in short<br />

trenches, trampled to form a peaty porridge and then spread out in an even layer on<br />

adjacent ground to dry. It was then broken into turves that had improved burning<br />

characteristics. This technique left a mosaic of pools and ‘floors’ of different<br />

wetness. The practice of hand-cutting turf has now virtually stopped, and natural<br />

succession has resulted in many areas which were previously open water becoming<br />

choked with vegetation, and Willow/Alder/Birch scrub encroaching on drier areas.<br />

Pools cleared of choking<br />

vegetation<br />

The withdrawal of active land management by the local community and subsequent<br />

deterioration in site condition led Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) to<br />

begin purchasing plots of land.<br />

<strong>Management</strong> objectives<br />

The paradox for Montiaghs Moss is that what emerged in the place of the former<br />

raised bog was a wonderful mosaic of pools, fen, mire, grassland and scrub, but<br />

the human activities responsible for the original loss of habitat, and subsequent<br />

creation of such rich biodiversity, are now in decline. The challenge for NIEA is to<br />

maintain the current conservation interest and establish the necessary equilibrium<br />

to maintain designation features, such as Marsh Fritillary Euphydryas aurinia, other<br />

notable invertebrates and fen vegetation in the most cost effective way possible.<br />

<strong>Management</strong> rationale<br />

It is unknown if the site could ever revert back to lowland raised bog. Left<br />

unmanaged it is likely to become dominated by woodland. The moss supports a<br />

number of notable plant species and is especially noted for its invertebrate fauna.<br />

Water levels on Lough Neagh, and therefore by default on the Montiaghs Moss, are<br />

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