National Peatlands Strategy. Country/Territory Ireland Document type Miscellaneous Date 2014 Source FAO, FAOLEX Subject Environment gen., Land & soil, Water Keyword Wetlands Land-use planning EIA Coastal zone management Soil conservation/soil improvement Soil pollution/quality Sustainable development Geographical area Atlantic Ocean Islands, Europe, Europe and Central Asia, European Union Countries, North Atlantic, North-East Atlantic, Northern Europe Abstract The objective of this Strategy is to deal with long-term issues such as land management & development, restoration, conservation, tourism potential, carbon accounting and community participation in managing and to serve as a guidance to for the Government policy in relation to all peatlands. Peatlands are wetland ecosystems that are characterised by the accumulation of organic matter called peat which derives from dead and slowly decaying plant material under wet conditions. Irish peatlands are principally bogs with a small proportion of fens. Both bogs and fens appear in natural condition but the majority has been man-modified. Fens are peatlands that in addition to precipitation also receives water that has been in contact with mineral soil or bedrock. Bogs are peatlands only fed by precipitation and consequently generally nutrient poor and acid. Bogs are further divided into raised bogs (less than a third of the bog area) and blanket bogs forming the main category of peatlands in Ireland. The Strategy gives direction to Ireland’s approach to peatland management and how to optimise the benefits derived from the vast peatland resource over the coming decades. The term eco-system services is used to describe the range of benefits that peatlands provide for human well-being. Some are traditionally recognised benefits and others are emerging. Gaining a sense of the true value and potential of peatlands requires consideration of a wide range of issues including current and possible landuses and the implications of such uses. Full text English Website www.npws.ie