This article is from page 12 of the 2007-04-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
THE Chief Executive of the Heritage Council, Michael Starrett, has called for the immediate introduction of a management plan for the Burren.
Mr Starrett was reacting to a report outlining the damage being done both to the ecosystem and archaeol- ogy of the Burren as a result of the marked increase in scrub encroach- ment in the area over the last number of decades.
“IT am calling for the urgent intro- duction of a national landscape man- agement plan for places like the Bur- ren, The Tara Skryne Valley and the Cooley Peninsula,’ said Mr Starrett.
“Urgent action needs to be taken to manage these changes as they have an incremental effect which is dev- astating to the delicate landscape and ecosystems of the Burren.”
According to the report hazel and blackthorn scrub encroachment in the Burren is increasing at an esti- mated annual rate of 4.4 per cent. The report also found that scrub was found to be damaging sites at a structural and sub-surface level and putting historically and environmen- UIA ARo PRSTLO ROMS Ihr: B LSS
The study called for a proper land- scape-level management plan for the archaeology of the Burren to be put in place and a full archaeologi-
cal survey of the Burren to be con- ducted at an estimated cost of €1.25 million.
At present the BurrenLIFE organi- sation is undertaking the largest ever clearance of scrub ever undertaken in the Burren.
Meanwhile, the Burren Trust has called for a more strategic approach to the management of the Burren to be taken.
The organisation has this week is- sued a call for submissions on the merits of a more integrated, long term, strategic approach to the man- agement of the Burren.
The conservationist organisation is calling on locals to review a docu- ment entitled