Ireland: Ecological Support Services for Roonah Lough and Machair Restoration Project

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is seeking a qualified provider to deliver ecological support services for the Roonah Restoration Project, which focuses on three sites: Lough Cahasy, Lough Baun, and Roonah Lough. This LIFE On Machair initiative aims to protect and restore machair ecosystems within Ireland's Natura 2000 protected areas (Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas). Machair is a unique coastal habitat consisting of lime-rich, wind-blown sand plains found primarily in northern and western Ireland and Scotland. The project prioritizes three key conservation areas: machair habitat restoration, breeding wader bird populations, and pollinator species. Traditional low-intensity livestock grazing maintains the flower-rich machair vegetation. The broader coastal complex includes wet and dry machair zones, drift line vegetation, dunes at various stages of development, inland lakes, and transitional habitats connecting coastal and inland ecosystems. Prospective providers should have expertise in habitat assessment, ecological monitoring, restoration implementation, and species management within sensitive Natura 2000 sites.