Geological Heritage
For any project type, when carrying out the EIA, please consult with the Heritage and Planning Programme of the Geological Survey of Ireland to assess the presence of geological heritage site(s) in the vicinity of the proposed development.
Datasets are not available online as shapefiles on GSI online mapping service. However, some are available for completed County Geological Sites Audits to date.
Overall, consultation with the programme will clarify the presence or not of geological heritage sites, either recommended for County Geological Site (CGS) or Natural Heritage Area (NHA) designation.
Most of the time, developments are likely to enhance exposure of an existing geological site. Consultation will provide an opportunity to propose mitigation measures and/or alternative, should geological heritage be directly or indirectly likely to be impacted by the project.
Contact Sophie Préteseille at sophie.preteseille@gsi.ie for information on geological heritage which might lie within the study area of the proposed project.
Legislative requirement to address geological heritage in EIS:
Concerning the legislative requirement for EIS to address geological heritage, the topic is not mentioned in the EIA Directive 85/337/EEC nor is geology. The same applies to the directive amendments 97/11/EC and 2003/35/EC.
However, geological heritage is considered in the directive’s transposition into Irish Law through the S.I. 600 of 2001, part X. Articles 103, 109, 120 cover geological heritage described as geological feature and/or geomorphological feature, if it benefits of the following protection status: European site (Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC), proposed or designated Natural Heritage Area, nature reserve and/or refuge (all under the Wildlife (Amendment) Act, 2000). Finally, article 121 covers the prescribed bodies to consult on the matter.
The geological heritage data collection is very much a work in progress. As of December 2010, no site of geological interest recommended by the GSI has yet been officially designated as NHA. GSI forwarded a finalised list of sites of geological interest recommended for NHA designation in December 2008, but the time frame for designation by NPWS is unknown.
However some geological heritage sites already benefit indirectly of a protection status. At European level, SACs have mainly been designated for their ecological importance. However, for some of them, geology represents a strong component: habitats such as limestone pavement, active raised bogs, blanket bogs (if active) or turloughs are listed as priority natural habitats (Annex I of 92/43/EEC). Among the current 423 SACs (in 2010), some with a geological component such as eskers, bogs, mountains, rivers are also listed in the IGH indicative site list, showing how geodiversity underpins biodiversity. At national level, NHAs and pNHAs are also designated for their ecological importance. Some of these areas have a geological description part of their synopsis. At present NHA synopsis available from the NPWS website are bog descriptions only, but some of them are also listed in the IGH indicative site list.
Along the EIA Directive and S.I. 600 of 2001, the Heritage Act, the National Heritage Plan 2002 and the Planning Regulations place responsibility on Local Authorities for the protection of CGS and their adequate inclusion and treatment in the Development Plan and Heritage Plan. As Local Authorities give planning permission for developments, they are responsible for taking CGS into consideration if any development represents a potential threat to the CGS.