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WWeettllaanndd SSuurrvveeyy CCoouunnttyy MMoonnaagghhaann Part 1: Main Report Report prepared for Monaghan County Council & The Heritage Council An Action of the Monaghan Heritage Plan 2006-2010 by Peter J. Foss, Patrick Crushell & Faith Wilson www.wetlandsurveysireland.com November 2011 Wetland Survey County Monaghan Foss, Crushell & Wilson 2011 _______________________________________________________________ Authors: Foss, P.J., Crushell, P. & Wilson, F. (2011) Title: Wetland Survey County Monaghan. Report prepared for Monaghan County Council and The Heritage Council. (Main Report pages 1- 65; Site Reports: Part A (Aghavilla Spring to Gobbawell Spring) pages 66 – 245; Site Reports: Part B (Half Moon (Ballyloughan) to Tonyscallon Lough) pages 246 – 442). An Action of the County Monaghan Heritage Plan Copyright Monaghan County Council & The Heritage Council 2011 Wetland Surveys Ireland Dr Peter Foss Dr Patrick Crushell 33 Bancroft Park Bell Height Tallaght Kenmare Dublin 24 Co Kerry [email protected] [email protected] All rights reserved. No Part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of Monaghan County Council. Views contained in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of Monaghan County Council or The Heritage Council. Includes Ordnance Survey Ireland data reproduced under OSI License number 2010/03 CCMA/ Monaghan County Council. All maps © Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. License number 2010/03 CCMA/Monaghan County Council. Photographic Plate Credits All photographs by Peter Foss 2011 unless otherwise stated. Copyright Monaghan County Council & The Heritage Council. Report cover photograph: Three turloughs in winter flood at Ballyloughan, County Monaghan. Photograph Copyright: Shirley Clerkin. Pyrola rotundifolia (Round-leaved Wintergreen), Drumgoan Fen, County Monaghan. Photograph Copyright: Peter Foss. Wetland Survey County Monaghan Foss, Crushell & Wilson 2011 ____________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................................. 4 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. 5 3 WETLANDS SURVEY COUNTY MONAGHAN ............................................................................................. 6 3.1 BACKGROUND................................................................................................................................................ 6 3.2 PROJECT SUMMARY....................................................................................................................................... 6 4 MATERIALS & METHODS .............................................................................................................................. 8 4.1 WETLAND SURVEY COUNTY MONAGHAN - SITE SELECTION .......................................................................... 8 4.2 WETLAND SURVEY COUNTY MONAGHAN - FIELD SURVEY ............................................................................. 8 4.3 CONSULTATION WITH LANDOWNERS .............................................................................................................. 9 4.4 HABITAT CLASSIFICATION .............................................................................................................................. 9 4.5 SITE CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION....................................................................................... 9 4.6 WETLAND SURVEY COUNTY MONAGHAN DATABASE – STRUCTURE AND CONTENT ........................................ 9 4.7 COUNTY MONAGHAN WETLAND MAP (MWM) – GIS DATASET...................................................................... 9 4.8 CONSTRAINTS ............................................................................................................................................. 10 5 RESULTS......................................................................................................................................................... 11 5.1 WETLAND SURVEY COUNTY MONAGHAN ..................................................................................................... 11 5.2 WETLAND TYPES RECORDED ON DETAILED SITE SURVEYS......................................................................... 13 5.2.1 Turlough Sites..................................................................................................................................... 13 5.2.2 Spring Sites......................................................................................................................................... 15 5.2.3 Transition Mire Sites........................................................................................................................... 17 5.2.4 Raised Bog Sites ................................................................................................................................ 19 5.3 PRELIMINARY SITE INSPECTIONS ................................................................................................................. 21 5.4 FLORAL OBSERVATIONS .............................................................................................................................. 21 5.5 FAUNAL OBSERVATIONS .............................................................................................................................. 22 5.6 SITE CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT............................................................................................................. 22 6 RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................................................................... 30 6.1 DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT OF THE MONAGHAN WETLAND RESOURCE ....................................................... 30 6.2 SITE DESIGNATIONS .................................................................................................................................... 30 6.3 PLANNING CONTROLS.................................................................................................................................. 30 6.4 COUNTY SURVEY......................................................................................................................................... 31 6.5 ONGOING MAINTENANCE OF THE COUNTY MONAGHAN WETLAND MAP SITE DATABASE ............................. 31 6.6 ONGOING MAINTENANCE OF THE COUNTY MONAGHAN WETLAND MAP GIS DATASET ................................ 31 6.7 HYDROLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF WETLAND SITES...................................................................................... 32 6.8 MANAGEMENT OF WETLAND SITES.............................................................................................................. 32 6.9 ENFORCEMENT OF FINES FOR DUMPING....................................................................................................... 32 6.10 CONTROL OF INVASIVE SPECIES IN WETLAND SITES ................................................................................... 32 6.11 LOCAL AUTHORITY WETLANDS POLICY ..................................................................................................... 32 6.12 WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE ............................................................................................................... 32 6.13 PUBLIC INFORMATION AND INTERPRETATION ............................................................................................. 33 7 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................................. 34 8 APPENDICES.................................................................................................................................................. 35 1 Wetland Survey County Monaghan Foss, Crushell & Wilson 2011 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Report Tables & Figures Page List of Tables Number Table 5.1: Turlough sites reported from County Monaghan in Sheehy Skeffington et al. (2006) 13 Turloughs – Ireland’s unique wetland habitat. Table 5.2: Turlough sites reported from County Monaghan in Mayes (2008) Turlough Database 14 Consolidation Project. Table 5.3: Turlough sites identified in county Monaghan during the 2011 Wetland Survey 14 Table 5.4: Spring sites identified in county Monaghan during the 2011 Wetland Survey 15 Table 5.5: Transition Mire sites identified in county Monaghan during the 2011 Wetland Survey Table 5.6: Raised bog and cutover sites identified in county Monaghan during the 2011 Wetland 17 Survey Table 5.7: Preliminary site inspections of site in county Monaghan made during the 2011 Wetland 21 Survey Table 5.8: Conservation Assessment and ranking of sites surveyed in detail in county Monaghan 24 during the 2011 Wetland Survey List of Figures Figure 5.1. Location of sites surveyed in detail as part of the Wetland Survey County Monaghan 12 2011 List of Appendices Appendix 1. List of priority sites selected for potential survey as part of the Wetland Survey 36 County Monaghan 2011 Appendix 2. List of sites surveyed in detail as part of the Wetland Survey County Monaghan 2011 41 Appendix 3. List of sites on which a preliminary inspection was undertaken during