A NEW €5 million project to help two local communities to restore populations of freshwater pearl mussel in south Kerry has been rubber-stamped by the European Union.
The funding has been earmarked for the Caragh and Blackwater catchments – both hugely popular with Killarney fishermen – which host the two largest populations of the species with an estimated 45 per cent of the national resource.
Ireland is regarded as a stronghold within Europe for the freshwater pearl mussel. It is a key species in the ecology of rivers, helping to keep their waters clean thereby producing wider benefits for other aquatic biodiversity such as fish stocks.
This important ecological role makes it particularly vulnerable to changes in water quality and has therefore given it particular conservation value and specific protection under Europe’s Habitats Directive. While occurring throughout Ireland, the Caragh and Blackwater catchments in South Kerry host the two largest populations with an estimated 45 per cent of the national resource.
In June 2013, an application was made to the EU to provide funding support for a collaborative project working with local communities and stakeholders in the farming and forestry sectors to deliver sustainable land use management for the conservation of the freshwater pearl mussel.
The EU has now agreed to provide almost 50 per cent co-funding for this €5 million project which is being led by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, South Kerry Development Partnership, Teagasc and Coillte.
Welcoming the news, Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Minister, Jimmy Deenihan, said south Kerry is at Europe’s frontline in efforts to save the important species.
“I am pleased at the involvement of the South Kerry Development Partnership and the support of the local farming and forestry sectors.
“I trust this collaborative project will ensure that a balance can be achieved between the economic sustainability of rural families and communities and the environmental protection of threatened species,” he said.
