Ireland update en final dec13

LIFE programme - Country Factsheet

IRELAND Overview Since the launch of the LIFE programme by the European Commission in 1992, a total of 55 projects have been co-financed in Ireland. Of these, 38 focus on environmental innovation and 17 on nature conservation. These projects represent a total investment of €112.5 million, of which €48 million was contributed by the European Union.

This document provides an

Every year a call for project proposals is launched for

overview of LIFE in Ireland.

its three components: Nature and Biodiversity,

It showcases success stories

Environment Policy and Governance, and Information

and ongoing initiatives, indicates how to find further information on the projects

and Communication.

You will find more details on these and all recent LIFE projects in Ireland in the annexed lists.

and provides a list of current projects in Annex.

Last update: 29/11/13

European Commission, DG Environment – LIFE E.3 & E.4 Units (http://ec.europa.eu/life/)

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Environment Policy and Governance To date, the LIFE Environment and LIFE Environment Policy and Governance components have co-financed 38 projects in Ireland. This represents a total investment of €70 million, of which €23 million has been contributed by the European Union.

Completed projects mainly targeted integrated environmental management, clean technologies, sensitive area management (coastal areas) and urban design. Local authorities and SMEs were the main project beneficiaries, and the projects had a duration of between 24 and 63 months.

There are two ongoing LIFE+ Environment Policy and Governance projects in Ireland. One project is seeking to develop a depolymerisation process, which would make it possible to use waste tyres to produce substitute carbon filler materials for use in the production of rubber. The project, which started in September 2011, is being carried out by an engineering firm and will run for a period of 36 months. The second project aims, over a 63 month-period, to strengthen the integration of tourism and natural heritage, and to reconcile tourism development with conservation of biodiversity in the Burren region. The project is being coordinated by Clare City Council.

The project presented in the box below is an example of a successful LIFE Environment project in Ireland.

Recovery of Clean Wood from Dirty Wood (CleanWood) LIFE06/ENV/IRL/000532 The Clean Wood plant was built during the summer of 2007, and capital equipment was installed in late 2007/early 2008. There are two main parts to the Clean Wood process: the ‘mechanical separation’, which separates wood chips from other contaminants, such as ferrous and non ferrous metals, ceramics, glass and plastics, and also grades the chips by size and breaks down larger chips; and the ‘vision separation’, which consists of a camera system to carry out fine separation and remove wood that is contaminated by resin, paint and other agents. This process has been demonstrated to prototype level.

The clean wood was dried using a moving grate wood fired furnace (the moisture level of the wood was reduced from up to 40% to less than 5%). The fuel that was used for the furnace was bark and butt chips and waste materials from the nearby Palfab saw mill. By the end of the project, the process had achieved 70% recovery of clean wood from the contaminated supply. There had also been a significant reduction in the false rejects (clean wood chips falsely rejected by the system), which decreased to 5.38%.

The clean wood produced is being used as a feedstock by the sister LIFE project, ‘Tyre Wood Block’ (LIFE05 ENV/IRL/000501) in the production of composite pallet blocks. However, the project team is also actively marketing the product elsewhere. The technology is replicable and suitable for installation at sites close to an abundant supply of local waste material. The beneficiary expects that the demand for such facilities will increase as the landfill directive takes effect.

The new facility will provide full-time employment for about 50 people and, combined with additional local services, will contribute approximately €2m/annum to the local economy. A number of additional jobs have also been sustained in recycling and waste wood shredding businesses.

For further information: http://www.clean-wood.eu

Last update: 29/11/13

European Commission, DG Environment – LIFE E.3 & E.4 Units (http://ec.europa.eu/life/)

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Nature and Biodiversity To date, the LIFE Nature and LIFE Nature and Biodiversity components have co-financed 17 projects in Ireland. This represents a total investment of €42 million, of which €25 million has been contributed by the European Union.

The completed projects mostly concentrated on the conservation, management and restoration of habitats, with a specific emphasis on active blanket bogs, raised bogs, farmland and various types of woodland. One Biodiversity project made a significant contribution to halting the loss of biodiversity in Ireland by developing and demonstrating effective methods for controlling highly invasive plant species, combined with a programme of stakeholder commitment, leading to policy development and dissemination. The project beneficiaries were mainly NGOs, parks and national authorities, and a semi-state fisheries organisation. The project durations ranged from 48 to 66 months.

There are four ongoing LIFE+ Nature projects in Ireland. One of these projects, implemented by Inland Fisheries Ireland, aims to enhance the conservation status of the Lower Shannon special area of conservation (SAC) and, in particular, to improve conditions for the Atlantic salmon, sea lamprey and European otter. A second project, carried out by the local development agency, Integrated Resource Development Duhallow Ltd, proposes to bring about a sustained enhancement of the Upper Blackwater SAC by targeting the freshwater pearl mussel, Atlantic salmon, European otter and kingfisher. This is to be achieved by carrying out actions aimed at restoring the quality of the river bed and riparian zone. A third project, developed by the public enterprise, Coillte Teoranta (The Irish Forestry Board), aims primarily to help restore wetland, peat-forming conditions on Ireland’s raised bogs by continuing the process of removing plantation forests. This project builds on the work carried out under Coillte’s previous LIFE-funded project (LIFE04 NAT/IE/000121 “Restoring Raised Bog in Ireland”), which was completed in December 2008. The most recently selected project aims to establish, over a 52 month period, the sustainable management of the priority terrestrial Habitats Directive Annex 1 habitats of the Aran Islands. The project will be implemented by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

The project presented in the box below is an example of a successful LIFE Nature project in Ireland.

Control of aquatic invasive species and restoration of natural communities in Ireland (CAISIE) LIFE07/NAT/IRL/000341 The CAISIE Biodiversity project made a significant contribution to halting the loss of biodiversity in Ireland by developing and demonstrating effective methods for controlling highly invasive plant species, as well as a programme of stakeholder commitment, and by contributing to policy development and dissemination.

On the Lough Corrib target site, over 90% of the original 92 ha infestation of curly-leaved waterweed was treated, which brought the weed coverage down to 'manageable levels' - below 10 ha – and prevented its spread to the large lower section of the lake. Monitoring has demonstrated that the methods used have facilitated the reestablishment of native species and keystone plant habitats. In addition, previously infested areas have been re-opened for angling, boating and other recreational activities.

The project developed new survey methods to monitor the distribution and extent of colonisation by curly-leaved waterweed and to assess the efficacy of the control measures employed to treat it. A herbarium of indigenous aquatic plant flora for Lough Corrib was prepared. The project also established a ‘rapid reaction’ capability to quickly respond to new AIS threats in Lough Corrib.

In the Grand Canal and Barrow Navigation project area, great success was achieved with extensive control operations on New Zealand pygmy weed, Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed and Nuttall's pondweed. However, the Asian clam (discovered during the project), and to a lesser extent, Himalayan balsam, remain a problem in the Barrow Navigation.

Looking to the sustainability of these achievements, the project has provided a suite of scientifically assessed plant control methods that can be employed on submerged invasive species in other situations. Notably, the pioneering use of jute matting and the development of trailing knives - V-blades - for the control of submerged aquatic weeds has already resulted in it being used in other weed infested waters in Ireland, the Netherlands, the UK and further afield. The project also made considerable progress towards the identification of a suitable biological agent to control curly-leaved waterweed.

For further information: http://caisie.ie/ Last update: 29/11/13

European Commission, DG Environment – LIFE E.3 & E.4 Units (http://ec.europa.eu/life/)

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How to find out more about LIFE and LIFE projects By surfing on the LIFE website The LIFE website provides a wealth of information on the LIFE programme: http://ec.europa.eu/life/

By searching on the LIFE projects For further information on LIFE projects in Ireland or LIFE projects in general, please consult the online LIFE projects database. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/index.cfm The easy-to-use database is the authoritative source of information on all ongoing and closed LIFE projects. The database also provides information on the beneficiaries, their contact details, and the projects’ websites.

By contacting: The National Contact Point for Ireland Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government Sustainable Development Unit

Name: Address: Tel: Fax: E-mail: Website:

M. Seosamh Ó Laoi Mrs Siobhan NicThighearnai Custom House, Room 251 IRL – Dublin 1 +353 1 888 2876 N/A Seosamh.OLaoi@environ.ie Siobhan.NicThighearnain@environ.ie http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/SustainableDevelopment/LIFEProgramme/

The Monitoring Team for Ireland ASTRALE EEIG - HTSPE Ltd Thamesfield House, Boundary Way UK - Hemel Hempstead HP2 7SR Tel: +44 1442 202400 Fax: +44 1442 266438 Email: htspe@astrale.org

Last update: 29/11/13

European Commission, DG Environment – LIFE E.3 & E.4 Units (http://ec.europa.eu/life/)

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Recent Environment Policy & Governance projects in Ireland Project Title

Project Number

Website

Recovery of Clean Wood from Dirty Wood (CleanWood)

LIFE06 ENV_IRL_000532

http://www.clean-wood.eu/

Depolymerisation Technology for Rubber with Energy Optimisation to produce Carbon Products (DEPOTEC)

LIFE10 ENV_IE_000695

http://www.depotec.eu

Burren Tourism for Conservation (Burren Tourism)

LIFE11 ENV_IE_000922

http://www.burrengeopark.ie/whatwe-do/geopark-life-project/

Click on the icon to read the project summary

Project duration

10/2006–> 07/2010

09/2011–> 09/2014

10/2012–> 12/2017

Recent Nature & Biodiversity projects in Ireland Project Title

Project Number

Website

Control of aquatic invasive species and restoration of natural communities in Ireland (CAISIE)

LIFE07 NAT_IRL_000341

http://caisie.ie/

Restoration of the Lr.Shannon SAC for Sea lamprey, Atlantic salmon and European otter (IShannonSACLAEO)

LIFE07 NAT_IRL_000342

http://www.mulkearlife.com/

Restoration of the Upper River Blackwater SAC for the Freshwater Pearl Mussel, Atlantic Salmon, European Otter and Kingfisher (BLACKWATER SAMOK)

LIFE09 NAT_IRL_000220

Demonstrating Best Practise in Raised Bog Restoration in Ireland (DBPRBRI)

LIFE09 NAT_IRL_000222

The sustainable management of the priority terrestrial Habitats Directive Annex 1 habitats of the Aran Islands (LIFE Aran)

LIFE12 NAT_IE_000995

Last update: 29/11/13

Click on the icon to read the project summary

Project duration

01/2009 –> 01/2013

01/2009 –> 01/2014

http://www.duhallowlife.com/ 09/2010 –> 08/2014

http://www.raisedbogrestoration.ie

01/2011 –> 12/2015

N/A 09/2013 –> 12/2017

European Commission, DG Environment – LIFE E.3 & E.4 Units (http://ec.europa.eu/life/)

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