Presentation to Heritage Officer Network in Ireland on the findings from stakeholder mapping and analysis at the outset of a 9-year LIFE project to protect active blanket bog in Ireland.

1. WILD ATLANTIC
NATURE LIFE
INTEGRATED
PROJECT
Caroline Crowley, Presentation for
Heritage Officer Network, 14 April 2021
Findings from Preliminary
Stakeholder Mapping & Analysis
Photo credit: Tina Claffey (from: Tapestry of Life,

2. OUTLINE
• Blanket Bog
• Wild Atlantic Nature LIFE
Integrated Project
• Stakeholder mapping
research methods
• Key interests & people –
social justice
• Community engagement &
development – allies +
approach
• Awareness & education
Abbeyleix Raised
Bog
Source: thelifeofstuff.com

3. ACTIVE
BLANKET
BOG
• Rare EU habitat
• Private farmland - upland and
coastal areas
• Economic uses – peat fuel and
rough grazing
• Vital human ecosystem
services – carbon
capture/storage, water source /
storage, flood mitigation
Source:
Ipcc.ie 3

4. WILD ATLANTIC NATURE (WAN) LIFE IP
WAN LIFE IP
• Aims to protect and
restore Ireland’s highest-
quality blanket bogs in the
north-west
• Managed by the National
Parks and Wildlife Service
(NPWS)
Irish Uplands Forum
• Voluntary group for
sustainable upland
management
• Role to support
community mobilisation in
WAN LIFE IP
The Heritage Council
• Role to support school-
based education and
community engagement in
WAN LIFE IP
IUF commissioned research to identify important
stakeholders, potential collaborators and complementary
initiatives

5. PROJECT
MAP
24 SACS across
Galway, Mayo,
Sligo, Leitrim,
Donegal
5 Local Authorities
7 Local
Development
Companies
Údarás na
Gaeltachta areas –
Galway, Mayo,
Donegal

6. DESKTOP
RESEARCH
+ 36 INTERVIEWS
farming
natural resource management
nature appreciation
nature conservation
outdoor recreation
environmental education
community development
tourism development
Research Methods
Photo: Andy Hay (rspb-
images.com)

7. KEY
INTERESTS &
PEOPLE
• Farming – farming
families, smallholders
• Turf cutting – locals with
turbary rights, turf-cutting
contractors
Photo sources: Tripadvisor.ie; Regenerative Farming Ireland FB; raisedbogs.ie;
thejournal.ie
• Livelihoods & fuel rights

8. SOCIAL
JUSTICE
• Inequity in power and resources
• Between State & communities
• Within communities
• Expertise & resources for
authentic community
engagement / mobilisation
• Place-based approach -
integrated, participative
• Governance for conservation
to support effective collaboration
Image source:
donofalltradesblog.wordpress.com

9. Source: Healy (2013). Source: Tierney (2013).
RISK OF NOT ENGAGING
COMMUNITY
Sources: irishtimes.com;
connachttribune.ie

10. AWARD OF
ENGAGING
COMMUNIT
Y
Source:
irishtimes.com

11. COMMUNITY
ENGAGEMENT &
DEVELOPMENT
ALLIES
• Local Development Workers, Rural
Recreation Officers – LDCs, UnG
• Heritage Officers
• Community Water Officers
• Arts Officers
• Other facilitators / mediators -
community leaders, contractors
Source: The Heritage Council (2017)

12. COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
APPROACH
• Build community capacity and resilience through local
leaders
• Don’t “tell them what to do” - ask communities what they
want
• Then “trust them, give them space, resources,
confidence”
• With the right person, “once they find their feet and their
confidence, it is amazing what they can achieve”
• “Sometimes … the most unlikely people” become local
leaders
• Give them time to bring people along, “to walk as fast as
the collective want to go”
(2020) published by Policy

13. AWARENESS &
EDUCATION
• open to diverse fields
• knowledge flows in many directions
• integrated
Transdisciplinary approach
Recognise traditional knowledge
Include locals as guides and educators
Inspire ‘bog champions’ with fun, creative, peer-
to-peer learning
Heritage in Schools, Leave No Trace
Embed project in communities
Sustain after LIFE
Everyone learns, including ‘experts’
Image source:
coe.int

14. Image source: www.ed-archmat-
ejd.eu

15. 15
ESTABLISHIN
G COMMON
PURPOSE
AGREEIN
G
ACTIONS
Image source: Crowley (2021) Published by IUF & The Heritage
Council

16. WILD ATLANTIC NATURE (WAN) LIFE IP
Farm RBAPS
• WAN LIFE IP has begun
• Team of 5 led by Dr.
Derek McLoughlin
• Starting with farm families
- RBAPS
• Model of Pearl Mussel
Project & Burren
Programme
• EoIs for Owenduff/Nephin
uplands in Mayo
Joined-up Policies
• Collaborating on CAP
strategic plan policy
framework
• Farming for Nature
Technical Group
• Convened by The
Heritage Council
• Joined-up land use policy
(e.g. farming, nature,
tourism)
Community
Engagement
• Work will progress into
wider communities
• Ready to engage with
Heritage Officers

17. THANK YOU
Caroline Crowley
crowleyresearch@gmail.co
m