This is defined as rehabilitation that is designed to meet the conditions of the EPA IPC Licence.  The key objective of rehabilitation is environmental stabilisation.  This is achieved by a combination of re-wetting, where possible, and natural colonisation of the former cutaway, with or without intervention.  Other after-use development may also serve to act as rehabilitation.

This is defined as decommissioning that is designed to meet the conditions of the EPA IPC Licence. This is defined as to render safe or remove for disposal/recovery, any soil, subsoils, buildings, plant or equipment, or any waste, materials or substances or other matter contained therein or thereon, that may result in environmental pollution.

A Bord na Móna site generally becomes cutaway when it is economically unviable to continue industrial peat extraction or when the majority of peat has been removed.

Deep peat cutaway bog is defined as former raised bogs that have been in industrial peat production, where production has ceased but the residual peat depth is typically in excess of 2m.  Sphagnum mosses are key species of raised bogs and the majority of the peat mass is formed from these mosses.  Sphagnum species and other raised bog species are a key part of raised bog habitat function and prefer more acidic, nutrient poor, water-logged conditions.  Typical raised bog Sphagnum mosses and other bog species do not thrive with the more typical alkaline water chemistry of cutaway bog but do grow well in these more acidic conditions where peat has been re-wetted.  There is potential to re-develop Sphagnum-rich plant communities in these conditions if the peat can be re-wetted.  This brings the opportunity of re-developing Sphagnum-rich vegetation communities that are considered Carbon sinks or peat-forming habitats and restoring the carbon sequestration function of part of these sites.

Cutaway bog is categorised as dry cutaway where it is not practical or feasible to re-wet these areas completely.  It is inevitable that some areas of cutaway will remain relatively dry due to the heterogenous topography of the cutaway, as well as requirements for continued drainage on site for identified after-uses, or off site in relation to neighbouring lands or other infrastructure.  Ridges and mounds of glacial deposits can become exposed during peat extraction and form a heterogenous topographical mosaic separated by basins.  Dry cutaway may have very thin or no residual peat where ridges and mounds have been exposed.  The exposed sub-soils are a mix of glacial gravels, muds and tills that can be quite free-draining.  Dry cutaway may also have deeper residual peat but in a location (ie.  at the margin) where the peat cannot be re-wetted due to boundary constraints.   Dry cutaway may also develop in situations where there a relatively steep slope that inhibits re-wetting.  The majority of dry cutaway will develop towards grassland, heath, scrub and dry woodland habitats.

This is defined as activities carried out in the proposed Bord na Móna Decommissioning, Rehabilitation and Restoration Scheme.  It is expected that additional costs will be supported by the Government through the Climate Action Fund.

This is defined as rehabilitation carried out under PCAS. It is proposed by Government that Bord na Móna carry out enhanced decommissioning, rehabilitation and restoration on portion of their peatlands. This will be supported by the Government through the Climate Action Fund. Bord na Móna have identified a footprint of 33,000 ha as peatlands suitable for enhanced measures.  This proposed Scheme will significantly go beyond what is required to meet rehabilitation and decommissioning obligations under existing EPA IPC licence conditions.  Interventions and measures supported by the Scheme will ensure that environmental stabilisation is achieved (meaning IPC obligations are met), and importantly, significant additional benefits, particularly relating to climate action and other ecosystem services, will also be delivered.  However, only the additional costs associated with the additional, enhanced and accelerated rehabilitation, i.e., those activities which go beyond the existing decommissioning and rehabilitation requirements arising from Condition 10 will be eligible for support under the proposed Scheme.

Marginal land is defined as land around the margin of the industrial peat production area.  This margin generally contains a range of habitats including scrub, Birch woodland, cutover bog and raised bog remnants.  It has a variety of land-uses including turf-cutting (private turbary).  PCAS will consider potential rehabilitation and restoration actions (e.g. drain blocking) within marginal land zones, where appropriate. 

Ecological restoration is defined as the process of re-establishing to the extent possible the structure, function and integrity of indigenous ecosystems and the sustaining habitats they provide” (SER 2004).  Defined in this way, restoration encompasses the repair of ecosystems (Whisenant 1999) and the improvement of ecological conditions in damaged wildlands through the reinstatement of ecological processes.  In general, Bord na Móna cutaway peatlands cannot be restored back to raised bog in a reasonable timeframe as their environmental conditions has changed so radically (with the removal of the acrotelem – the living layer and much of the peat mass).  However, they can be returned to a trajectory towards a naturally functioning peatland system (Renou-Wilson 2012).  Raised bog restoration is an objective of some Bord Na Móna sites where there is residual natural raised bog vegetation and where the majority of the peat is still intact.

Wetland cutaway bog is defined as former raised bogs that have been in industrial peat production, where production has ceased and the majority of peat has been cutaway, and where this cutaway has the potential to be re-wetted. A significant number of Bord na Móna sites have pumped drainage and these sites are likely to develop a mosaic of wetland habitats when pumping in reduced or stopped.  The water chemistry of wetland cutaway frequently is strongly influenced by the more alkaline sub-soils that have been exposed during peat production.  This means that pioneer vegetation is more typical of fen and wetland, rather than raised bog.  Wetland cutaway will have a broad range of hydrological conditions depending on the local topography.  In some cases, these wetlands may form deep water (> 0.5 m) whilst other areas may have the water table at or just below the surface of the ground.