'Mournes could take centuries to recover from wildfires'
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- Dr. Neil Reid says peatland loss from fires could take centuries to millennia to recover, because peat builds only 1‑2 mm per year and fires burn several centimeters.
- James Fisher of the National Trust reports over a thousand hectares burned in a week, wiping out rare heathland habitats that hold >50 % of NI's heathland communities.
- Andrew Muir labels the repeated blazes “rural arson,” warning that year‑after‑year fires cause “death by a thousand cuts” to peatland specialists.
- National Trust monitoring after the 2021 fires shows invertebrate populations remain 90 % lower three years later, threatening broader biodiversity.
- Mourne Mountains span 57,000 ha of peatland, gorse, heathland and forest, with smoke now hanging over a blackened landscape after the latest blaze.
Why it matters: The National Trust loses over a thousand hectares of rare heathland, cutting carbon storage and raising flood risk for downstream communities, while also threatening tourism revenue that depends on the Mournes' natural beauty.
