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An appeal has been issued to stop people from setting fires in the hills, as experts say hundreds of acres of land in the Wicklow Mountains have been destroyed due to gorse fires.
The natural habitat of a large number of creatures is believed to have been destroyed as a result of the fires, and the head of the Wicklow Fire Service has said there is little doubt that the fires were started illegally.
Aidan Dempsey said that because of Covid-19’s problems, it is “doubly frustrating” to send crews and the Air Corps to fight fires that he said “are not accidental.”
The fire chief said “no one is out there” and that Garda was patrolling the Wicklow Highlands to fend off people who may be violating coronavirus restrictions.
Dempsey said the fires are being “maliciously caused” rather than accidentally by people who are tourists or who use the mountains for recreational purposes.
In recent weeks, a series of fires have caught fire despite the Department of Agriculture’s Orange Fire warning.
The department, fire services, and the National Park and Wildlife Service have called on people, particularly farmers, not to start fires in the hills right now.
The fires have been concentrated in one area along the Wicklow gap line, from Valleymount to Laragh.
The helicopters have been designed to help fight fires and are impacting the resources of the Wildlife and Park Service, the fire service, Gardaí and the Air Corps. Hundreds and hundreds of hectares are impacted and dramatic images of the fires have emerged.
Birds nesting in the ground have destroyed their nests or young, and experts say it will take years for habitats to recover.
Wesley Atkinson of the National Park and Wildlife Service has said vast areas of land in the Wicklow Highlands have been devastated.
“You have species like Grouse that nest in the ground without cover. In the past few days I have seen Quinn Bubble Bees flying around looking for their nests, which are gone. I have seen burned lizards,” he said.
Mr. Atkinson said “now there is nothing in these areas to support these species,” adding that the magnitude of the damage “is enormous, large areas of habitat have been spayed for several years.”
Farmers are allowed to burn land at certain times, but it is not currently allowed. Anyone who finds arson can be prosecuted under the Wildlife Act, and both the Department of Agriculture and the National Park and Wildlife Service have called on people not to.
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