Galway Bay fm newsroom - Plans have been lodged for a major peatland restoration project in Connemara.
The plan led by Coillte Teoranta seeks 10 year planning permission for works at Derryclare and Cloonnacartan.
The ambitious plan involves the felling of 343 hectares of conifer plantation, for the purposes of peatland restoration and establishment of native woodland.
There'll also be measures to restore and rehabilitate 281 hectares of Atlantic blanket bog and heathland.
It's currently planted with lodgepole pine and sitka spruce forests, and is managed for commercial forestry.
Other works include conversion of 62 hectares of conifer forest to native woodland, ongoing management of invasive species, improvement of existing forestry roads, and deer fencing.
