Endangered iconic bird found in Slieve Blooms will benefit from new agreement

THE endangered Hen Harrier, an iconic bird of prey traditionally found in the Slieve Bloom Nature Reserve, will be the first threatened species to benefit from the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding between the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Coillte.

The new MoU will promote partnership, collaboration and enhanced co-operation with regard to the delivery of nature conservation projects, and the management of the respective estates of both organisations.

Hen Harriers are one of Ireland’s rarest and most iconic species, but a survey by the NPWS, conducted in 2022 and published earlier this year, recorded a maximum of 106 breeding pairs of Hen Harrier remaining throughout the country. This represents a decline in their numbers of one-third in just seven years since the last national survey, and a fall of just under 60% since the first survey, undertaken at the turn of the millennium.

Just nine pairs were identified at the Special Protection Area in the Slieve Blooms, and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Pippa Hackett said that she welcomed the new agreement between the two agencies, and hoped it would represent a turning of the tide in the push to save this iconic native species.

“I believe the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding between Coillte and NPWS will ultimately prove to be a very positive step for the enhancement of our natural environment. Given the scale of their respective land banks and expertise, as well as the impending introduction of the Nature Restoration Law, closer collaboration between these two State agencies is a really welcome move,” she said, speaking at the Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska.

“My colleague, Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD, unveiled the Hen Harrier Threat Response Plan last week here in Laois, and I share his desire to ensure that the threat of extinction is removed and that the unique open blanket bog landscape will soon be the home to many more of these wonderful ‘Sky Dancers’ ”.