Introducing Tóchar – Restoring Ireland’s Wetlands and Supporting Sustainable Communities

Tóchar Midlands Wetland Restoration is a major three-year initiative focused on wetland restoration, research, and community engagement across Ireland’s midlands.
The project, co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the EU Just Transition Fund Programme, will invest €12 million in wetland conservation.
Wetlands are vital ecosystems that support biodiversity, regulate climate, and provide sustainable natural resources.

Thursday, 27 March 2025, Dublin, Ireland: The Tóchar Wetlands Restoration Project is a three-year initiative dedicated to wetland restoration, research, and community collaboration co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union. Its mission is to restore, research, and engage with communities to enable wetland conservation.

Ireland’s midlands are home to a diverse range of wetlands, including bogs, fens, marshes, rivers, lakes, and ponds. These landscapes play a crucial role in the country’s ecology, supporting biodiversity, mitigating climate change, and sustaining local communities. However, many of these wetlands have been degraded over time, and urgent restoration efforts are required to protect their future.

Managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), Tóchar is part of Ireland’s Just Transition journey towards climate neutrality. Through a €12 million investment, the project aims to restore degraded wetlands across the midlands and surrounding counties, enhancing biodiversity while supporting local livelihoods.

Christoper O’Sullivan, Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity commented:

“The Tóchar Project is an exciting and essential initiative in Ireland’s journey toward nature restoration and sustainability. Wetlands are not only vital for biodiversity and climate resilience, but they are also deeply embedded in the cultural and economic heritage of our rural communities. This project represents a balanced approach to conservation, ensuring that we protect these precious ecosystems while working closely with local communities to support a fair and just transition.”

The EU Just Transition Area, which includes the counties Kildare, Galway, Roscommon, Laois, Longford, Offaly, Tipperary, and Westmeath, has been selected as the focus for these restoration efforts. Initial projects that are set to get underway include:

Pollardstown Fen, Co. Kildare – a restoration initiative for Ireland’s most important calcareous fen.
Slieve Bloom Mountains, Co. Laois and Offaly – a conservation project aimed at protecting breeding Hen Harriers and increasing wetland restoration opportunities.
Clara Bog, Co. Offaly – further restoration works to preserve this internationally significant raised bog habitat.
Restoration plans for 36 fen sites across the region. Fens are peatlands which are under the influence of groundwater and are therefore more alkaline than acidic bogs, hosting a wide range of plants and animals.
An additional 12 community-led wetland projects have received letters of offer for a variety of actions, including drainage and hydrology assessments, vegetation assessments and monitoring under the Tóchar framework.

Shirley Clerkin, Tóchar Project Manager, highlights the importance of community participation:

“We hope that communities will get involved in Tóchar. We want to hear their stories about the landscape so that we can work together to restore and protect these unique wetlands. By restoring degraded wetlands, we can foster sustainable living, community pride, and a renewed relationship with nature, ensuring a climate-conscious legacy of biodiversity and resilience for generations to come.”

Tóchar is committed to fostering strong relationships between local communities and their natural landscapes. Community knowledge and experience are invaluable in understanding and preserving wetlands. The project team is actively reaching out to individuals and groups across the Just Transition area to listen to their stories and collaborate on restoration efforts.

By restoring wetlands, Tóchar will provide a wide range of ecosystem services, including nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The project aims to demonstrate how landscape restoration goes hand in hand with social transition, ensuring that nature conservation benefits both people and biodiversity.

For more information about the Tóchar Project, to find out what is happening in your area, or to explore opportunities for collaboration, please visit www.tocharwetlands.ie or follow us on Instagram @wetlandsrestoration.

Further Information

For all media queries or to arrange an interview with a Tóchar spokesperson, please contact:

Marie Lynch, Carr Communications , marie@carrcommunications.ie, 087 973 0522 or Éabha Griffin Kelly, Carr Communications, egriffinkelly@carrcommunications.ie, 087 671 6394.

About the Tóchar Project

The name Tóchar represents the path along the Just Transition journey and serves as a reminder that generations before us have used and experienced bogs and wetlands in many ways. A tóchar or togher is a path through a bog or wetland, and hundreds of these ancient pathways have been discovered deep within the peatlands of Ireland. Some were made from heavy oak transported over long distances, while others were constructed using different tree species or even flagstones.

Tóchar is implementing Action 2.1 of the EU Just Transition Programme in Ireland, focusing on restoring degraded wetlands as part of a broader movement towards carbon neutrality. This project recognises that nature restoration is a social transition, where restoring landscapes goes hand in hand with strengthening communities and reconnecting people with their natural heritage.