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Mourne Mountains Burn: Wildfires Devastate Miles
3 May
Summary
- Wildfires destroyed over seven square miles in the Mourne Mountains last week.
- Conservation expert warns of hundreds of years for peatland recovery.
- Repeated fires cause 'death by a thousand cuts' to peatland specialists.
Firefighters have been contending with significant wildfires in the Mourne Mountains, an area comprising 57,000 hectares of diverse ecosystems. In the last week alone, the fires consumed more than seven square miles of land, leaving behind a stark landscape of blackened earth and heavy smoke.
Beyond the immediate visual impact, a conservation expert from Queen's University Belfast, Dr. Neil Reid, has highlighted the profound long-term consequences. He described the recurring fires as causing 'death by a thousand cuts,' leading to the attrition of specialized peatland flora and fauna. Dr. Reid cautioned that the recovery of these damaged peatlands could extend over hundreds of years.
