The Blackstairs Mountains, popular with hillwalkers and climbers and home to rare flora and fauna, are at risk of erosion due to the widespread use of quad bikes on their slopes, writes Michael Parsons
THE ILLEGAL USE of quad bikes is causing “irreparable” damage to the fragile environment of the Blackstairs. The mountain range contains some of the most spectacular and unspoilt landscapes in the southeast. In recent years quad bikes – which cost in the region of €5,000 for a top-of-the-range model with a 250cc engine – have become popular with sheep farmers, who use them to access flocks in remote areas of the mountains.
But conservationists claim that recreational use of the four-wheel drive, engine-powered bikes is causing serious soil erosion and disturbing wildlife on land designated as a “Special Area of Conservation” under the EU’s Habitats Directive. The Mountaineering Council of Ireland, which is the main representative body for walkers and climbers, believes “the off-road use of vehicles is severely detrimental to the upland environment . . . and should be prohibited”.
The quad bikes are transported up the mountains on trailers and locals say the most popular access point is an area on Mount Leinster close to an enclosed compound where an RTÉ television transmitter is located. The post-Christmas period is a particularly busy time as the bikes are often bought as gifts. Most of the activity takes place at weekends.
Jimmy Conroy, a ranger with the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), says quad bikes cause “very severe damage to the blanket bog” on the mountainside as the bike wheels cut into the sponge bog and cause erosion, which is particularly noticeable on Mount Leinster and Black Rock Mountain to the east. Most of the activity takes place at weekends, but, Conroy says, rangers only work “Monday to Friday, with no overtime” and the service “needs more people on the ground”. Conroy, who is based in Kilkenny, single-handedly monitors the Blackstairs in Co Carlow, since that county currently has no ranger. There is just one other ranger looking after the mountains on the Co Wexford side.
Local TD Mary White, who is also deputy leader of the Green Party, lives close to Mount Leinster and walks in the Blackstairs most weekends. “If you come across them out walking, there’s an unbelievable amount of noise and diesel pollution,” she says, but her main concern is “the irreparable damage to the peat-based terrain which has been laid down over thousands of years”. “It is only a question of time before there’s a serious landslide,” she says. “Once the soil has been eroded away to the bedrock, then when snow and ice melt, water comes rushing down the mountain causing flooding, damage to roads and the danger of bog and mud slips.”
Despite theoretical legal penalties, including the seizure of vehicles, fines and even imprisonment, the authorities admit that detection and prosecution is rare and difficult due to the absence of enforcement and the near impossibility of policing such vast tracts of mountainside.
Peter Carvill, a spokesman for the NPWS, acknowledges that the multiplicity of access points, the lack of identification marks on off-road vehicles (which are not required to bear registration plates) and their high mobility make it very difficult to apprehend offenders. He says the damage to the mountains is viewed with concern by the authorities in Brussels, which has the power to fine Ireland for failing to protect Special Areas of Conservation, and that one option being considered is deploying the Air Corps “to do helicopter swoops on offenders”. The Department of the Environment is currently drafting amendments to the habitats legislation to address the issue, which is also “a very serious problem” in the Wicklow Mountains, the Slieve Blooms and other mountain ranges.
BOTH WHITE AND THE NPWS accept that the appointment of more rangers is unlikely in “these tough budgetary times”, but want county councils to enact bylaws to re-enforce national legislation and add a layer of local authority protection. Such bylaws would enable councils’ own environment units to be called out to deal with reported incidents of illegal biking and provide back-up support to the hopelessly overstretched NPWS service. However, White’s attempts to introduce such bylaws while she was a member of Carlow County Council failed to attract the support of other political parties. She stresses that she has “no problem with farmers using quad bikes to attend to their flocks of sheep in inaccessible areas of the mountains”.
The call for bylaws is backed by the Mountaineering Council. which points out that “in Northern Ireland it is illegal to have a motorised vehicle more than 100m from a public road without the landowner’s permission”. The Council believes “the provision of designated reserves for quads would take pressure off sensitive landscapes”.
White supports such a solution and has called on Coillte, the state-owned forestry company which owns land in the area, to offer a “designated area for quad biking on Coillte land”. Coillte, which already provides public access to 11 forest parks and more than 150 recreation sites throughout the State, is “actively engaged” in trying to resolve the issue. Bill Murphy, the organisation’s head of recreation, says Coillte is willing to accommodate “new” sports activities, citing the €2.2 million already invested to build “three world-class trails for mountain bikes – in Wicklow, the Ballyhoura Mountains and Connemara”. He says banning the use of quad bikes is not possible and that “we must engage in dialogue with these people”.
In the meantime, quad bike enthusiasts do have opportunities to enjoy the sport without damaging the mountain environment. A number of commercial venues have opened throughout the State, such as Country Quads (www.countryquads.net) – which, ironically, is located just a few miles from the Blackstairs Mountains, near the village of Borris in south Co Carlow. Michael and Kathryn Moloney have established a series of all-weather quad bike trails with views towards the mountains and overlooking the Barrow valley on their working, 100-acre dairy farm. Michael Moloney says the sport is popular “with families, tourists, corporate groups and stag parties”. Visitors pay €45 per adult and €32 per child and are provided with safety equipment and trained instructors.
About the Blackstairs
The Blackstairs Mountains stretch for 22km along the borders of counties Carlow and Wexford. The six principal peaks are Mount Leinster (785m), the province's highest point, which is dominated by a landmark RTÉ television transmitter; Blackstairs Mountain, (735m); Black Rock Mountain (599 m); Knockroe (540m); Slievebaun (520 m); and Carrigroe (495 m).
The range has been designated a "Special Area of Conservation" due to its heather-covered dry heath (accounting for 17 per cent of Ireland's total area of this type of habitat), wet heath and blanket bog. It is protected by legislation deriving from the EU's Habitats Directive.
Most of the land is undivided commonage owned by local farmers and used primarily for sheep grazing. During the second World War, a road was built up the side of Mount Leinster to enable workers access to a bog, which once employed 160 workers. Coillte, the state-owned commercial forestry company, also has woods in the area.
The mountains remain relatively unknown, but are used by hillwalkers, hang-gliders and hunters. The area is notable for rare flora, including bird's-foot and cranberry, ivy-leaved bellflower, marsh St John's wort, pale butterwort, wood horsetail, starry saxifrage and stag's horn. The site also hosts the red grouse and other rare species including the golden plover, hen harrier, merlin and peregrine falcon. The Blackstairs are dotted with recorded national monuments - mostly stone cairns.