Nephin Range to become a wilderness park

Nephin Range to become a wilderness park


Anton McNulty
antonmcnulty@mayonews.ie

The first US-style wilderness park of its kind in Western Europe will be located across 11,000 hectares of state-owned land in the Nephin Beg range.
The ambitious and innovative project will deliver a dedicated wilderness of forest, mountain, bog, river and lakes in the Nephin Beg Range after a Memorandum of Understanding between Coillte and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht was signed last week.
The project will involve Coillte taking 4,400 hectares out of their commercial forest operation and rewilding this land, improving habitat and landscape quality over a 15-year period. The memorandum commits both parties to working together to deliver the wilderness project, which includes forest lands and parts of the Ballycroy National Park.
The eventual intention is to have a landscape of scale with functioning ecosystems while providing an authentic ‘wilderness experience’ for those that visit.
As well as providing completely unique recreational opportunities where challenge, solitude and remoteness are the hallmark, the project also aims to increase nature conservation biodiversity values, protect a large landscape from human artifacts while facilitating research and enhancing the status of natural ecosystems through a process of non-intervention.
The signing of the memorandum was welcomed by the Wild Nephin Project Manager Bill Murphy.
“This is an important day not only for Ireland but also for Europe as this agreement is a key step along the way towards the goal of setting aside 1,000,000 ha of wilderness in Europe by 2020. Ireland is in the forefront of looking at modified landscapes, the challenges of rewilding and how these can contribute to wilderness in Europe,” he said.
Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan said the project will complement Ballycroy National Park, which borders the Coillte lands while Coillte CEO, David Gunning said the project ‘forms part of our core purpose of enriching lives locally, nationally and globally through the innovative and sustainable management of natural resources’.
To celebrate the unique designation and to advance the concept of wilderness in Europe, Coillte and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, supported by Mayo County Council, are hosting a conference in Mayo with the theme – Wilderness in a Modified European Landscape. The conference, taking place in May, will bring together leaders in the field of wilderness management and land restoration from across the globe to participate in the discussion.

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