Cranes return to Ireland with peatland restoration
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In Ireland, common cranes are returning to the landscape after a 300-year absence, encouraged by peatland restoration efforts led by BnM, a formerly peat-extracting company.
For centuries, cranes inhabited Irish peatlands but disappeared due to hunting and habitat loss, with their decline linked to the extinction of gray wolves and a subsequent rise in predators of ground-nesting birds.
BnM, now focused on renewable energy, began the Peatland Climate Action Scheme (PCAS) in 2021 to rewet drained peatlands by blocking drainage ditches. The restoration centers on sphagnum mosses, crucial for bog ecosystems as they absorb water and filter methane, a potent greenhouse gas. While the project initially faced criticism regarding BnM’s role as both destroyer and restorer of the peatlands, it has gained momentum as a positive step for biodiversity.
In 2021, a pair of cranes successfully fledged chicks on a restored peatland owned by BnM, the first time in three centuries. Since then, the pair has continued to nest and raise young each year. BnM received an extension to 2030 to complete the restoration of 81,000 acres of peatland, and ecologists continue to monitor the ecosystem’s response while birdwatchers hope to observe the returning cranes.
