Report Cover Vol I - Clare County Library

The County Clare Wetlands Survey Patrick Crushell & Peter Foss 2008
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pNHA - proposed Natural Heritage Areas
Proposed Natural Heritage Areas were published on a non-statutory basis in 1995, but have not since
been statutorily proposed or designated. These sites are of significance for wildlife and habitats. Some of
the pNHAs are tiny, such as a roosting place for rare bats. Others are large - a woodland or a lake, for
example.
Nationally pNHAs cover approximately 65,000 ha and NPWS has indicated that designation will proceed
on a phased basis over the coming years (www.NPWS.ie). Prior to statutory designation, pNHAs are
subject to limited protection being considered in afforestation grants, REPS and recognition by planning
authorities.
Within County Clare a total of 39 pNHAs sites containing wetland habitats (as classified by the Clare
Wetland Survey) are recorded in the CWS site database (see Table 7.4 in results section 7.5 below and
Appendix 8).
cNHA – candidate Natural Heritage Area
Candidate Natural Heritage Area is the name given to wildlife sites that are proposed to NPWS by third
parties for consideration as NHAs. Prior to designation these sites require survey and evaluation for their
conservation value. If they are considered of national conservation value they may then enter the formal
NHA designation process. These sites have no legal protection until they are taken up into the formal
NHA designation process.
A total of 88 site and sub-site cNHAs containing wetland habitats are recorded in County Clare in the
CWS site database.
5.5 CWS Wetland types
The County Clare Wetland Survey (CWS) set out to map the distribution and extent of all freshwater
wetland habitat types as defined by the Fossitt habitat classification system of the Heritage Council Guide
to Habitats (Fossitt 2000).
The Heritage Council Guide to Habitats in Ireland sets out a standard hierarchical scheme for the
identification of habitats in Ireland. The guide is a practical tool to allow identification and recording of
habitat types.
The guide lists the main terrestrial wetland and wetland related habitats in Ireland under the main level 1
categories of freshwater, grassland and marsh, heath and dense bracken, peatlands, woodland and scrub
and coastland. Table 5.1 adapted from Fossitt (2000) lists the main wetland habitat types being recorded
and mapped as part of the CWS.
The level 1 wetland habitat categories are further divided to level 2 and subsequently level 3 as shown in
Table 5.1. These levels provide progressively more detail of the specific wetland habitat(s) recognised.
It was the aim of the CWS to categorise as many of the wetland sites identified in County Clare as
possible in terms of the occurrence of the 34 level 3 wetland habitat types. Identification to this level was
of course only possible where specific habitat information on sites was available or where aerial
photography allowed identification of a particular level 3 habitat type (see Materials and Methods, for a
discussion of limiting factors in relation to habitat recognition and identification encountered during the
CWS).
Where a site could not be identified to level 3, the Fossitt classification scheme has the advantage that it
allowed identification of habitats on sites to level 1 or level 2 in most cases.
See Appendix 6a of this report for a more detailed description of the individual level 3 habitats, and the
relationship of the Fossitt habitat types to those listed on Annex 1 of the EU Habitats Directive. Detailed
descriptions of each wetland habitats is presented in Appendix 6b. These descriptions are taken from
Fossitt (2000) with some minor modifications to the text.
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