Donegal unauthorised land clearing work halted by National Parks and Wildlife Service

Unauthorised land clearing work in Inishowen has been halted by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), Donegal Live can exclusively reveal.

The land in question was at Carolina, just outside the seaside town of Buncrana, and fell within the Lough Swilly Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

A spokesperson for the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which oversees NPWS, confirmed the intervention in response to a Donegal Live enquiry. 

The spokesperson said: “A Conservation Ranger from the NPWS of the Department visited the site on February 3, 2020 and instructed that the works, which consisted of clearing trees / scrub (0.3 Hectares) within the Lough Swilly SAC, be stopped.

“This was followed by a letter from the Department informing the owner that the lands were within a designated site.

“The works cannot proceed without the required prior consent of the relevant public authority,” said the Department spokesperson. 

Located in the Atlantic biogeographical region, Lough Swilly became an EU NATURA 2000 site in August 2000 and was designated a SAC in October 2018. It covers 93 km², of which 88 percent is marine area. 

NATURA 2000 is the ecological network for the conservation of wild animals, plant species and natural habitats of  importance within the EU. It consists of sites classified under the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive, collectively referred to as the Nature Directives. 

Crucially, the Lough Swilly SAC protects 32 species of the Nature Directives, including: Cormorants, Golden Plovers, Brent Geese and Eurasian Otters. 

It also protects six habitat types of the Habitats Directive, including: Estuaries, Coastal lagoons and Atlantic salt meadows.