50 acres of peatbog restored in Co. Mayo in partnership with Sisk
Lackaduff Rewet Project commences
Thursday 24th November 2021: Green Restoration Ireland (GRI) in partnership with John Sisk & Son and a local farmer has begun the rewetting of 50 acres of bog at Lackaduff, Doocastle, Co. Mayo.
Ireland is home to 50 percent of the last remaining raised bogs in Western Europe. As a direct consequence of this bog rewetting project, 36,000 tonnes of carbon will be permanently locked into the Lackaduff bog and 20-30 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions will be avoided annually. A team of Sisk volunteers are donning the wellies to start the process of reblocking the drains and bring life back to the bog.
These local bogs feed into a tributary of the Owengarve, part of the Moy River. Emissions of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) in Lackaduff currently range from 1.4 to 2.14 tonnes per year. This will be reduced by 90 percent as a result of the work carried out by Sisk and its partners.
Of the 20 hectares of raised bog at Lackaduff approximately 8.24 is impacted by the drainage ditches and an estimated 11 kilometres of drains need to be blocked for the full restoration works to be completed. Ongoing monitoring by GRI will confirm the long-term ecological success of this work.
John Sisk & Son is delighted to partner with GRI in the rehabilitation of peat bogs. This initiative is built upon the ambitious UN Sustainable Development Goal targets that we set out in our 2030 Sustainability Roadmap. This event is also an opportunity for our staff to volunteer and support local land-owners. Alan Cawley, Sustainability Manager, Sisk
Rare wildlife in East Mayo will also benefit as a result of the bog rewetting including, the red-listed bird species of skylark, meadow pipit, snipe, curlew as well as the Irish hare.
We have a lot of peatlands in Ireland and a solution here for locking the carbon into our bogs, as a means to help with this. This is the future, make the bogs work to fix the climate crisis and with help from the likes of GRI and Sisk we will.Tommy Mc Govern, Lackaduff Farmer
GRI is helping landowners to set a positive precedent and take action to restore their bogs while generating new income streams including through the creation of carbon credits in the long run. GRI’s goal is to achieve equitable, innovative and science-based solutions to the restoration of peatlands for farmers and landowners.
We are delighted that Sisk has come on board to support GRI with our bog restoration work in Co. Mayo. There are so many degraded peatlands which have been abandoned that are just crying out to be restored. There’s so much work to be getting on with that there’s no time to lose if we’re to turn things around. Dr. Douglas McMillan, GRI