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Commoge Marsh
(c) Kevin Dwyer

Yellow Bartsia Parentucellia viscosa
(c) Paul O'Donoghue
RPS McHugh
Planning and Environment
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Ballyannan Wood
(c) Sasha van der Sleesen
Sylvan Consulting Ecologists
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Clogheen Marsh
(c) Matthew Simpson
Wetlands Advisory Service






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The Ballyannan Wood management plan was launched on Saturday 10 March 2007 as part of National Tree Week. The launch took place in Ballyannan Wood, and was accompanied by a tree planting ceremony by John Landy, Coillte and Tom Gittings, CNT.  The launch was followed by a walk around the wood. 

Our thanks to Irene from Midleton's O2 office who attended the launch and tree planting. O2 are the sponsors of National Tree Week.

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Ballyannan Wood

 

The County Nature Trust has been working in partnership with Coillte to develop an educational/amenity nature reserve at Ballyannan Wood.

 

Ballyannan Wood is a 24.5 ha mature mixed woodland, owned by Coillte (www.coillte.ie). It is located on the Owenacurra Estuary south of Midleton. It is an ancient woodland and holds a diverse range of woodland habitats with notable features including a visually spectacular ground flora, veteran trees and a population of Red Squirrels. The County Nature Trust has carried out detailed surveys of the wood.

 

For further information click here.

The County Nature Trust has prepared proposals for small-scale habitat management. These proposals are targeted at enhancing important features and developing habitats that are poorly represented in the wood.

Click here for further information on small-scale habitat management in Ballyannan Wood.

A steering committee has been established to develop a management plan for Ballyannan Wood. This steering committee includes representatives from Cork County Council, the County Nature Trust, East Cork Area Development Ltd., Midleton Town Council, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The steering committee has now prepared a draft management plan and is inviting submissions on this plan. The draft management plan will be on display at the offices of Midleton Town Council and in Midleton Library until 12 January 2007, and can be downloaded from www.corkcoco.ie/heritage.
Submissions should be submitted by 12 January 2007 to Heritage Unit, Cork County Council, Millview House, Travellers Way, Victoria Cross, Cork (
cork.heritage@corkcoco.ie).

Click here for further information on the Management Plan

This project is supported by East Cork Area Development Ltd. under the National Rural Development Programme, and by Cork County Council.

 
 
 
 
Commoge Marsh

The County Nature Trust, in partnership with Cork County Council, has prepared a management plan for Commoge Marsh. Commoge Marsh is a 15 ha coastal wetland located on the north bank of the Bandon Estuary, 1 km from Kinsale, Co. Cork. The major habitat in the site is an approx 5.5 ha artificial coastal lagoon, and other habitats include wet grassland, marsh, swamp, and wet willow-alder-ash woodland.

Click for Habitat Map

The marsh supports nationally important numbers of waterbirds (principally black-tailed godwit and curlew). Three scarce plant species occur: Chaffweed (Anagallis minima), Dotted Sedge (Carex punctata) and Yellow Bartsia (Parentucellia viscosa). The lagoon supports specialist lagoonal invertebrates, and a partial evaluation indicates that the ecotonal invertebrate fauna may be of conservation importance. The site is owned by Cork County Council and two private developers. These three landowners have agreed to manage the marsh as a nature reserve.

Commoge Marsh is a site of high nature conservation importance with complex ecological features that are potentially very sensitive to management intervention. It is also an important amenity feature in the Kinsale area. While a number of previous ecological reports have been prepared relating to the site, these have all been prepared in response to specific development proposals and do not consider the management of the site as a whole. It was, therefore, important that a comprehensive plan was prepared so that any management will be clearly focused and does not cause inadvertent damage to the site.

The management plan, includes an objective appraisal of the site, identification of the important features of the site (including educational/amenity features), and Action Plans for management actions required to maintain/enhance these features.

Click for Management Plan Summary

A steering committee was set up to oversee the preparation of the management plan, and will be responsible for its implementation. This steering committee includes representatives of Birdwatch Ireland, Cork County Council, County Nature Trust, National Parks and Wildlife, E & T Builders, Fleming Construction Ltd., Kinsale Town Council, and McInerney Construction Ltd. RPS Group Ltd. consultants were commissioned to prepare the management plan under the direction of this steering committee.

Work is now beginning on implementing the Action Plans and updates on our progress with this work will be posted on this website. If you have any queries about this project, please contact the Heritage Unit, Cork County Council, 021 4818000.

 

 

This project is supported by West Cork Leader under the National Rural Development Programme, Cork County Council, Fleming Construction Ltd., and McInerney Construction Ltd.

 

 

 

 

 

Clogheen Marsh

 

We are working in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to carry out habitat enhancement works at Clogheen Marsh.

Clogheen Marsh is a 65 ha coastal wetland near Clonakilty owned by NPWS. The site contains a diverse range of wetland habitats including coastal lagoons, saltmarsh, wet grassland, marsh, swamp and wet woodland. It is also an important feeding and roosting area for the internationally important waterbird populations that winter in Clonakilty Bay. The site is part of the Clonakilty Bay SAC/SPA.

 

While this site is already of high nature conservation value, there is great potential for making the site even more important. We have prepared a concept design for the enhancement and management of this site for nature conservation. This design has targeted actions to benefit important habitats and 24 bird species of high nature conservation importance (red and amber listed species).

 

As a major component of our proposals involves hydrological management of the site, we have commissioned the Wetlands Advisory Service (See Link Below) to carry out a feasibility study. This study will assess the technical feasibility of our proposals and their impact on existing interests, and provide a costed work programme for advancing the project. This feasibility study is under way, and forms the first stage of the project.

 

This project is supported by West Cork Leader under the National Rural Development Programme.

 

Wetlands Advisory Service (LINK)

 

 

 

Important Notice

 

The information provided above does not imply any
right of public access to these sites. The County Nature Trust
will not accept any liability for any consequences arising
from any such access to these sites.
 
 

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