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Special Areas of Conservation

Peatlands Park

Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Country Northern Ireland
Unitary Authority Northern Ireland
Centroid* H907608
Latitude 54.4883
Longitude -6.5986
SAC EU Code UK0030236
Status Designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
Area (ha) 207.53
* This is the approximate central point of the SAC. In the case of large, linear or composite sites, this may not represent the location where a feature occurs within the SAC.
Location of Peatlands Park SAC

General site character

  • Inland water bodies (Standing water, Running water) (4%)
  • Bogs, Marshes, Water fringed vegetation, Fens (72%)
  • Broad-leaved deciduous woodland (24%)

Download the Standard Data Form for this site (PDF <100kb)

Note When undertaking an appropriate assessment of impacts at a site, all features of European importance (both primary and non-primary) need to be considered.

Annex I habitats that are a primary reason for selection of this site

  • 7120 Degraded raised bogs still capable of natural regeneration

    Peatlands Park is a large lowland raised bog that has been extensively cut for turf in the past. It represents one of the largest areas of degraded raised bog in Northern Ireland. Regeneration is taking place over a large part of the site, with heather Calluna vulgaris and cross-leaved heath Erica tetralix together with a mixture of sedges including hare’s-tail cottongrass E. vaginatum, common cottongrass Eriophorum angustifolium and Sphagnum bog-mosses. The peatland flora includes bog-rosemary Andromeda polifolia at one of its few Northern Ireland sites. The peatland interest also incorporates an area of intact lowland raised bog at Mullenakill. Associated woodland interest includes 91A0 old sessile oak woods with Ilex and Blechnum and 91D0 Bog woodland.

  • 91D0 Bog woodland  * Priority feature

    Peatlands Park is located within an extensive area of cut-over raised bog close to the southern shores of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland. The Bog woodland appears to have developed through seral succession over a shallow, peat-bottomed lake. Downy birch Betula pubescens is dominant, with grey willow Salix cinerea one of the main associates. Bramble Rubus fruticosus agg. is locally abundant in the ground cover. However, most of the woodland floor is soft and spongy, with occasional quaking areas, dominated by acid fen communities. These are composed of a thick bryophyte carpet of Polytrichum spp., Scleropodium purum and a variety of bog-moss Sphagnum spp., through which grow a scattering of grasses, sedges and herbs.

Annex I habitats present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for selection of this site

Annex II species that are a primary reason for selection of this site

  • Not Applicable

Annex II species present as a qualifying feature, but not a primary reason for site selection

  • Not Applicable

Many designated sites are on private land: the listing of a site in these pages does not imply any right of public access.