People are being asked to avoid soft and boggy grounds when hillwalking this winter, following six months that saw more rain than average.
Mountaineering Ireland is calling for people to be mindful as it says the downpours have left their mark on many upland areas.
Helen Lawless, Access and Conservation Officer with the organisation, said: "We've had a lot of rain over the last while, so the hills are really wet, especially the peatland areas ... and when the hills are wet they are more vulnerable to the impact of our footfall."
Wicklow is one of the most popular areas for walkers, and most of its hills are covered with blanket bog.
Hugh McAlinden is a District Conservation Officer for the region with the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
He said that many people would be surprised by how much impact even a modest amount of foot traffic can have on a bog.
"It doesn’t take much to cause enough damage, that would actually damage the plants and prevent them regrowing.
"As little as, I think, six people travelling across the bog in one year, the same line, as little as that.
"It’s hard to imagine, it sounds ridiculous when I say it, but I’ve seen it with my own eyes."
Mr McAlinden spends much of his work time in these areas, and says he sees around 10cm "stripped off the hills every year".
Heavy rain can cut gullies in the bog when peat is exposed, and tonnes of peat can be washed away down these channels.
Standing in one gulley he points to the bare bedrock exposed at the bottom.
"If we don’t deal with this, the peat will, in its entirety, I think, be carried off the mountain.
"Then we’d be left with just a very poor habitat of just thin grass on the sediment and that has happened around world."
The NPWS, working with volunteers, has dammed drains on some of the most damaged areas in the national park, but Mr McAlinden said that the scale of the problem is overwhelming and that the works only cover only a small fraction of what is needed.
He also said that the projects will never be able to restore the bog to what it was.
Hillwalkers are not the primary cause of the damage to mountains in Wicklow and other areas - overgrazing, fires, and climate change are all contributing.
Mountaineering Ireland say walkers should seek routes with harder surfaces or boardwalks which can take more footfall.
Ms Lawless said: "Be mindful, the hills are wet right now, and try avoid a route crossing wet, fragile ground, and when you’re out there, keep within existing path lines by as much as you can, because by doing that we prevent, widening the damaged areas.
"We love the hills, let’s help protect them."
She said that even a healthy bog only grows by about 1mm each year and a damaged one releases carbon into the atmosphere instead of storing it.
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December 26, 2023 at 05:20PM
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