LIVE: Nearly 40 illegal peat extraction sites causing 'catastrophic damage'

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published a report on large scale illegal peat extraction in Ireland, where it discovered nearly 40 illegal sites nationwide.

The 38 sites are across seven counties – Offaly, Kildare, Tipperary, Westmeath, Roscommon, Longford and Sligo – where large-scale commercial peat extraction is being carried on without any of the necessary authorisations from the local authorities. 

These illegal operations are contributing to an export trade of 300,000 tonnes of peat annually, valued at almost €40 million. 

The EPA has deployed significant resources to carry out 170 enforcement inspections between 2021 and 2024 and it has also taken legal actions at District Court and High Court level against operations on areas greater than 50 hectares.

These legal actions have resulted in the cessation of illegal peat extractions on several peatlands in recent years. A number of actions remain live before the courts. 

Local authorities have the primary responsibility for regulating all commercial peat extraction, specifically regarding compliance with environmental legislation including the performance of Environmental Impact Assessments, Appropriate Assessments associated with protected habitats, and the granting or otherwise of the necessary planning permissions for those activities.
Local authority enforcement performance in this area is patently inadequate.

The EPA is directing local authorities to take appropriate enforcement actions against such operations within their jurisdiction.

The EPA will continue to use its powers to ensure that local authorities fully implement and enforce the environmental requirements pertaining to large-scale commercial peat extraction.

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The report notes that appropriate regulation of peat harvesting can provide important protections for the environment.  Bord Na Móna has lawfully operated nine different peatland complexes across 11 counties under licence from EPA, until 2020 when these operations ceased. Now, in accordance with their licence conditions and with the support of the Peatlands Climate Action Scheme, Bord na Móna is engaged in the rehabilitation of those peatlands with almost 19,000 hectares rehabilitated by the end of 2024, bringing them back to life, allowing nature to take its course and the peatlands to flourish again.  

Dr Tom Ryan, Director of the EPA Office of Environmental Enforcement said:  “Operators engaged in unauthorised peat harvesting activities are in flagrant violation of environmental law. They are destroying our precious natural environments and this needs to stop. 

The environmental damage caused by large-scale peat extraction operating outside regulatory control is catastrophic for the environment. It results in the destruction of vital ecosystems for biodiversity, the loss of important carbon sinks for our efforts on climate change and the decimation of an irreplaceable cultural and scientific amenity and resource. 
Local authorities have been conspicuous in their lack of enforcement of environmental law. They need to step up to meet their legal obligations as regulatory authorities, prioritise their resources and use the ample enforcement powers at their disposal to bring these illegal activities to an end and to protect our environment.”

“Bord na Móna is an excellent example of where appropriate engagement with the environmental regulations, including EPA licensing requirements, has worked to minimise the negative impacts of peat harvesting on the environment and to secure the longer-term rehabilitation of those harvested peatlands.”