The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) completed 14 strategic acquisitions of high nature value land last year in purchases which increased its land base by 1,800ha.

These acquisitions were made in nine counties, included the purchase of the Conor Pass in Co Kerry, and facilitated the expansion of several existing national parks, according to the agency's activity report for 2024.

The report states that the NPWS rolled out restoration measures across 565ha of peatland last year and oversaw the beginning of restoration works on an additional 2,771ha of former industrial peatlands under the Enhanced Decommissioning Rehabilitation and Restoration Scheme (EDRRS).

Peatland rehabilitation

This took the area of peatland put under rehabilitation measures through the scheme to over 18,800ha since it was introduced in 2020.

The report also states that 3,170 participants in the Cessation of Turf Compensation Scheme were paid by the Department of Housing in 2024.

The scheme, which took in new participants last year, compensates land owners and turbary right holders affected by turf cutting restrictions on the 53 raised bog special areas of conservation (SACs) and 36 raised bog natural heritage areas (NHAs).

Some 337 agri-environmental farm plans were operational by the NPWS and farmers with a budget of €2.2m last year.

The scheme provides funding for farmers in certain environmentally sensitive areas to put bespoke measures in place over a time frame of around five years.

Wildlife crime

The report stated that the NPWS has enhanced co-operation with other enforcement agencies on matters of wildlife crime by engaging with Garda training in Templemore and participating in joint checkpoints.

Regular and targeted NPWS patrols have helped the service deter and detect wildlife crime, with a total of 30 new prosecutions for alleged breaches of wildlife legislation initiated by the agency last year.

The NPWS has increased staff numbers over recent years from 349 in 2020 to 558 by the end of 2024.

CAP funding

CAP database figures for the first year of the 2023-2027 CAP show that Ballycroy National Park in Co Mayo and Connemara National Park in Co Galway received total payments of over €73,000.

Ballycroy received a Basic Income Support for Sustainability payment of €17,034 in addition to €1,339 in Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability.

Connemara received €55,271 under the ‘schemes for the climate and the environment’ heading.