By Lisa Ramsden
Last week the National Trust published its Donard Nature Recovery Report, which reveals the lasting impact of one of Northern Ireland’s largest recorded fires. It has warned it will take years for the landscape to recover.
The conservation charity added that the most recent fires in the early part of this spring are “extremely worrying” as the landscape is still scarred from the blazes of April 2021. Those fires burned for three days before being brought under control.
The Donard Nature Recovery Report highlights the fragility of the delicate habitats in this area and outlines the condition of the land, particularly following the fire of four years ago. Flames damaged 720 acres (250ha) of land in the Mourne Mountains, including part of the country’s highest peak, Slieve Donard. An area once brimming with flora and fauna was scorched, vegetation destroyed, and species diversity reduced.
The report highlights results from surveys and reveals that monitoring found the peatland habitat to be in an unfavourable condition. Wildfire recovery monitoring found quick recovery of grasses and a more gradual recovery of dwarf shrubs, which in 2024 was recorded at 41 per cent cover, compared to 53 per cent in 2021, prior to the fire.
The report also revealed that “Wildfire Regime Analysis” was carried out in 2023 by the Pau Costa Foundation, an organisation focussed on wildfires management and prevention.
Read the full story in the current issue of the Mourne Observer.
