Protecting Mayo’s magical machair

Sometimes the most magical things are right under our noses – or under our feet. Our beautiful Mayo coastline is not just the longest in Ireland, it is also home to pockets of precious rarities, like Mulranny’s Mediterranean-heather-covered hillsides and Achill’s basking-shark feeding grounds. Perhaps less well known and hitherto under-appreciated are the county’s swathes of machair, a rare coastal system found only in the north-west of Ireland and parts of Scotland, such as the Outer Hebrides.
These unique coastal habitats are wildflower-strewn grassy plains growing on lime-rich, wind-blown sand. But they’re not just beautiful to look at. They provide an important refuge for pollinators and birds, including the endangered great yellow bumblebee and threatened breeding waders like the dunlin, lapwing and redshank.
Since Brexit, the EU’s entire land cover of machair occurs in Ireland – which means machair conservation here is now of even greater significance on a European scale. Sites in Mayo include the whole of the Mullet peninsula, as well as the Inishkea Islands, the Valley Sandybanks on Achill Island and the Roonagh and Dooagtry Complex near Louisburgh.
These stunning coastal areas of the county have quite understandably seen an increase in tourist activity in recent years, which has been welcome. However, many visitors unwittingly trample over the machair or use the sites for overnight camping – even parking camper vans on these delicate wildlife sanctuaries.
The need to create a balance between protecting the rare habitats and welcoming tourists to beauty spots to help the economy of Mayo’s coastal communities was raised at the recent official launch of the LIFE on Machair project in Killeen. The six-year, EU-funded, NPWS-led project seeks to improve the conservation condition of Irish machair habitats and the ecological conditions for the species they support by working positively with local coastal communities and farmers.
Present at the Killeen launch were Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan and Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity Pippa Hackett, as well as one of Ireland’s foremost ornithologists and wildlife experts, Professor David Cabot, who lives close to the Dooagtry Complex.
Prof Cabot believes that the damage to Mayo’s machair that is being caused by tourists will have to be addressed if the rare habitat is to survive – and he is thrilled that the Life on Machair project will be helping to increase awareness.
“The tourism issue is going to be a big one. We will have to provide facilities, honeypots where people will go camping,” he explained. “We’ve got to have boardwalks and information. It is all about information. People are very respectful to the environment provided they understand it and know what is going on. This is what we are lacking and this is why this project is wonderful. It is about spreading the information and making people aware of this huge heritage and how it is something to be extremely proud of.”
Minister Noonan agrees with Prof Cabot. Speaking to The Mayo News after the launch, he said that in order for the €7.4 million LIFE on Machair project to be a success, the problems associated with tourism and wild camping must be addressed. Describing the machair sites as ‘amazing’ and ‘hugely important’, he said that the local community will have a big part to play in preserving these vital habitats.
“I have been in Maheees in Co Kerry because we have a leatherback toad project down there, and they have taken a very proactive approach to it [wild camping]. Rather than enforcement they work locally through volunteers and speak to people who might be setting up camp on the side of the road and say this is an important habitat and would they mind going to a designated campsite. The vast majority of people will listen to them, and that type of hands-on community approach is important,” he said.
Noonan added that the creation of marked walking routes would also help to stop people wandering all over the machair and damaging it. Such routes, he said, would allow visitors to ‘enjoy this amazing part of Ireland in a sustainable way and realise they are contributing positively to it rather than negatively’.
The minister and the professor’s sentiments were echoed by Dr Catherine Farrell, the LIFE on Machair project manager. “We do want to welcome people to the site, but we need to make sure they are welcomed in the right way,” she said, adding that she hopes that future generations will always be able to enjoy the ‘music of the machair’ – that particular kind of birdsong and insect buzz generated by the wildlife that only these rare habitats can support.
Each of us living along and visiting Mayo’s wondrous coastline can help too, by ensuring we don’t add to the damage ourselves. And if we do see people camping on any of these precious sites, maybe we can tell them all about the wonders underfoot and gently encourage them to choose another place to pitch up. Let’s face it, they’ll be spoilt for choice. We’re blessed with a stunning coastline that boasts plenty of other beauty spots for visitors to enjoy and explore.