Invasive Tree Species Being Removed from Glencap Commons

Invasive Tree Species Being Removed from Glencap Commons

Have you noticed the recent work close to one of Wicklow’s most popular outdoor attractions – The Great Sugar Loaf?

One element of the SUAS Pilot Project is the ongoing vegetation management across all of the locations participating in the project.  Through the project, guidance, and training if required, is given on how to implement a sustainable management plan specific to the location and its characteristics.

On the Glencap Commons, which sits next to the Great Sugar Loaf, the removal of non-native tree species has been underway for the last number of weeks, with the key objective to return the landscape to its natural upland habitats.

On this particular location, seeds from nearby forestry plantations have been distributed quite widely by prevailing winds. The encroachment of invasive species would have most likely accelerated without these recent intervention measures, as some of the more established trees found during the site inspection, had begun to introduce a more localised seed source.

The programme of works on this location will be suspended today in keeping with the Heritage Act, and in support of fostering habitats for ground nesting birds and other wildlife.

– In these photos and video taken on Friday, Declan Byrne, Project Manager of the SUAS Project, joined Paul Barrett, a hill-farmer participating in the project through a commonage agreement, to examine the work in operation across the whole location.