Innovative biodiversity reforestation project unveiled in Longford

Twenty-two hectares of land with a replanting obligation is the focus of a biodiversity and nature project in Edgeworthstown.
Coordinated by Green Belt, Ireland’s largest private forestry management group, they have brought together an accomplished expert team of ecologists and marine and freshwater genetics consultants.

Having had its commercial timber crop harvested at maturity 6 years ago, the cut away and raised bog Longford site has developed extensive natural regeneration.
Downy Birch is occurring naturally on soils suitable to sustain this species and there are numerous water attenuation points across the site. Given the nature of its original formation, there are areas of peatland with sphagnum mosses forming as well as areas of virgin bog.

With an abundance of data already accumulated, the project is setting out to establish a biodiversity baseline, using Lidar as a primary activity to capture topographical data and observe water flow patterns across the location.
Additionally, there are moth and bat surveys undertaken across the summer months as well as trail cameras erected across the site to observe mammal activity and habitat surveying and classification. To complete the land based activities, Bird surveys are being conducted for red and amber species of conservation concern in Ireland during June, July and August using passive acoustic monitoring.

Water quality is a very significant issue in Ireland and this venture will be used as a template for measures that can be employed to monitor the quality and issues within significant water courses, particularly adjacent to harvest sites, and to also provide mitigation strategies. Biochar will be extensively deployed as one of these mitigation strategies – in critical run off locations to filter the nutrient rich runoff from the peaty soils and fallen timber. Latterly, it will also be utilised in the planting stage of the project to further improve soil organic carbon content and the natural biodiversity function of the soils.

Working with Bio ID ltd out of UCD, careful filtration of water samples and DNA extractions from specifically selected locations will be gathered and repeated for analysis. From this, PCR amplification and library preparation for next generation sequencing, metabarcoding, of the mitochondrial 12S gene (106bp) using individually tagged primers including any replicates (water filtered samples) will be gathered and processed.

Amplified samples will be subjected to Next Generation Sequencing based metabarcoding to assess fish species diversity. Samples will be classified to the closest genus level and when possible to the species level.
Further, BioID Ltd will provide a technical report containing a list of genus detected and a species level list, as well as pH levels of the water and NPK values in sample locations.

One of the most exciting elements to this Edgeworthstown project is the social aspect – there will be a 2 km walking route introduced along a pre existing track. This will join into a neighbouring forest owned and managed by Ireland's state forestry group, Coillte.
Collectively this will bring people along a route in excess of 6 km of walking paths, with information and education points along the walkways.
Green Belt is working closely with the local Longford county council and a community activity group to ensure this is a public amenity that is successfully established and is of value to the community.

The works here will be validated using the Wallacea methodology and will be presented on a website where each ‘layer’ will be visible in real time – showing the increases in mammal activity and the resultant bird presence from the introduction of ponds to attract insect initially.

Speaking on site at the launch of this initiative, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Pippa Hackett, with a specific mandate for forestry and biodiversity, said, “It’s very exciting to see a unique project and development such as this in the forestry sector. It shows there is more and more value in Irish forestry. We hope this encourages more people to take on a similar approach. I would like to personally congratulate Green Belt for their endeavours and initiative in taking this on.”

The land is owned by a private company who have committed to convert it from a commercially productive forest under the previous owner to a native, multi species diverse plantation with a focus on improving the biodiversity net gain and natural capital value of the site. It is being carried out as a beyond value chain commitment to decarbonise their operations.

While there is no direct financial gain, and it won’t be used for insetting or offsetting against their carbon emission profile, there is the opportunity to access green finance through EU Taxonomy guidelines and acquire lower cost financing based on their nature rich portfolio.