Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
Located 20 km south of Dublin city, this site encompasses the upland areas of Counties Wicklow and Dublin. It comprises broad granite domes interspersed with pinnacled tops, rocky foothills, deep glens, numerous rivers and streams, and several lakes. Much of the area is a mosaic of heath, blanket bog and upland grassland, with stands of bracken and pockets of woodland. Poulaphouca reservoir, included within this site in the previous pan-European inventory (Grimmett and Jones 1989), is now treated separately (site 107). Land-uses include peat-cutting (which is also a potential threat), forestry and recreation (due to the close proximity of Dublin).
The nationally scarce
Falco columbarius and
F. peregrinus as well as
Lagopus lagopus breed within the extensive areas of bog and moorland. This is also one of the most important sites in Ireland for
Phoenicurus phoenicurus (50 pairs, 1996), which breed in the
Quercus woodlands, and for
Turdus torquatus (20 pairs, 1996), which breed in open, rocky areas.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
NPW own large areas of the site which they manage for nature conservation by, for example, maintaining traditional sheep-grazing methods. However, conflict between farming and the implementation of conservation management measures is yet to be fully resolved. Due to the proximity of Dublin city, careful management of visitors is required to ensure amenity use and conservation management objectives are also not in conflict. The site overlaps with a proposed candidate Special Area for Conservation (Wicklow Mountains National Park; area not known).
National Partial
International Partial20,000 ha of IBA covered by National Park (Wicklow Mountains, 20,000 ha). 157 ha of IBA covered by Nature Reserve (Glendalough, 157 ha). 1,958 ha of IBA covered by Nature Reserve (Glenealo Valley, 1,958 ha). 15,399 ha of IBA covered by Special Protection Area (Wicklow Mountains, 15,399 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Wicklow Mountains (Ireland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/wicklow-mountains-iba-ireland on 23/12/2024.
