General National Id Ireland_02 Site name River Erkina floodplain Summary This site was one of nine included in the LIFE05 project to restore priority woodland habitats in Ireland. The Durrow site is located on the floodplain of the river Erkina, and had been affected by planting of non-native conifers and associated drainage. A network of shallow drainage ditches covered the entire site, and was found to be adversely affecting the native alluvial woodland by reducing retention time of floodwaters on the floodplain. To counter this, a total of 350 dams were installed on ditches across the site. Light or indepth? Light Location description The site is located on the floodplain of the River Erkina, which is a tributary of the River Nore, in southeast Ireland. NUTS Code Southern and Eastern RBD code IESE Transboundary 0 NWRM(s) implemented in the case study Overland flow areas in peatland forests Longitude -7.412983 Latitude 52.8518 Site information Climate zone cool temperate moist Mean annual rainfall 900 - 1200 mm Mean rainfall 1000 Mean rainfall unit mm/year Average temperature 10 Type Case Study Info Average slope range 0-1% Vegetation class Alluvial woodland Monitoring maintenance Monitoring impacts effects 1 Monitoring location Edge of Field/Plot Monitoring parameters Water level monitoring in dipwells. Vegetation monitoring by quadrat surveys. No monitoring in adjacent river. Performance Performance impact estimation method Edge of Field/Plot Performance impact estimation information Dipwells were installed at the start of the project, which were used to inform the requirements for measures, as a result of which coffer dams were installed on ditches. Dipwell monitoring was continued after installation. Design & implementations Application scale Field Scale Installation date 2009 Performance timescale 1 - 4 years Area (ha) 95 Area subject to Land use change or Management/Practice change (ha) 95 Design capacity description The measures are designed to hold back water and increase water levels in the alluvial woodland, increasing retention time on the floodplain. There is no specific design capacity. Basis of design The measures are not designed for a specific storm event. They are designed to restore the alluvial woodland habitat by holding water on the floodplain for longer Constraints Providing the desire/intention is to restore habitat upstream and there are no areas local to the drainage that should not be put at risk of higher water levels, there are no constraints to this type of measure Favourable preconditions These measures could be applied anywhere that woodland or other habitat has been drained, although the details of the approach will vary depending on the soil type (in this case, alluvial deposits) Management change from Drained forestry Management change to Undrained, restored alluvial woodland Design contractual arrangement Arrangement type Responsibility Role Comments Name Design consultation activity Activity stage Key issues Name Comments Implementation phase Interpretation boards Two interpretation boards at Durrow Screening phase Project website Set up at project commencement and updated through the project and with final deliverables Implementation phase Production of project brochures Introductory brochure produced early in the project, with a final results brochure on completion. Hard copies printed for dissemination locally and internationally Implementation phase Annual 'woodland walk' Held annual during the project duration at three demonstration sites (although Durrow was not one of them) Screening phase Public consultation meetings In total eight events in year 1, 20 in year 2, 14 in year 3 and seven in year 4 Implementation phase End of project conference Design land use change Land use change type Broad-leaved forest Design authority Authority type Role Responsibility Name Comments Forest owners Implementation Coillte Teoranta [The Irish Forestry Board] Coillte is the commercial company responsible for Irish forestry. They were responsible for the initiation and implementation of this project, based on improvements they wished to make to forests on their own land. Lessons, risks, implications... Key lessons Main lessons taken from this site (and the project as a whole included): - The value of pre-implementation monitoring, to inform the most appropriate actions to take - The value of public engagement, to ensure they understand and approve of the measures Success factor(s) Success factor type Success factor role Comments Financing possibilities main factor Communication activities secondary factor Attitude of relevant stakeholders main factor Financing Financing type Comments EU-funds: LIFE+ Half funded by EU-LIFE05 Private funds Remainder funded by Coillte Barrier Barrier type Barrier role Comments In this case no specific barriers were identified, and the measures were successfully implemented Driver Driver type Driver role Comments Organisation committed to it main driver The project took place as a result of Coillte's commitment to restoring priority habitats Financing share Financing share type Share Comments European funds 50 View Private funds 50 View Policy, general governance and design targets Policy description The main driver for the work was deterioration of priority habitat, due to planting of non-native conifers and drainage. The drainage meant that floodwaters were not being retained on the floodplain. Part of wider plan 1 Policy target Target purpose Improved Biodiversity Policy pressure Pressure directive Relevant pressure Policy area Policy area type Policy area focus Name Comments Policy impact Impact directive Relevant impact Policy wider plan Wider plan type Wider plan focus Name Comments LIFE project LIFE05 NAT/IRL/000182 The title of the LIFE project was "Restoring priority woodland habitats in Ireland". It covered 9 sites, with the NWRM installations at one site (Durrow) Policy requirement directive Requirement directive Specification Socio-economic Costs investment information The total project cost was 2.3 million euros, which was spread across 9 sites. No information has been obtained about the distribution between sites or the costs specifically attributable to the relevant hydrological measures Costs operation maintenance Ongoing monitoring and maintenance was planned in an "After LIFE Conservation Plan" Compensations annual information No compensation was required, as Coillte were the owners of the site Ecosystem improved biodiversity 1 Information on Ecosystem improved biodiversity Along with other measures in the project (removing non-native species), damming the ditches will allow the alluvial woodland habitat to be restored Ecosystem impact climate regulation No specific impact Full Context Pathway(aka Context) Default view Area(aka Level or Site) ALL