GPS monitoring of sheep is claimed to guard fireplace restoration within the Morne Mountains

Innovative GPS tracking collars have been attached to a flock of sheep roaming Northern Ireland’s highest mountain as the Mournes recover from the devastating fires in April.

he National Trust initiative marks the first time in Northern Ireland GPS tracking has been used in this way, “pinging” an alert when sheep are grazing on fire-damaged land.

The great gorse fire is believed to have been started on purpose and has been declared a serious incident by the Northern Irish Fire and Rescue Service.

It took more than 100 firefighters several days to bring the 3.5 square kilometer fire under control.

Shut down

On Slieve Donard in the Morne Mountains in Co Down, firefighters had to put out a large gorse fire in April. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye.

On Slieve Donard in the Morne Mountains in Co Down, firefighters had to put out a large gorse fire in April. Photo by Philip Magowan / Press Eye.

The National Trust’s Sheep GPS program will also work with drone imagery, habitat monitoring and checkpoints, while the devices provide valuable data on the effects of grazing and enable optimal land management.

One of the worst hit areas was Slieve Donard – Northern Ireland’s highest mountain and a special sanctuary.

Working with stakeholders from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the Morne Heritage Trust, the National Trust commissioned drone and land surveys to assess fire damage and monitor natural regeneration of the heather.

The collars, which cost just over £ 3,000 and were funded by the Trust’s Farming Innovation Fund, continuously track sheep movements, pinging them every 15 minutes and alerting their farmer of their activity level and even temperature.

The sheep will wear the collars until they return to the lower ground in the fall.

The data from the trackers is overlaid with location maps of the sheep to see if they are spending long periods of time grazing the new growth as it shows up in the burned areas.

Shut down

Firefighters are fighting a widespread forest fire in the area. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye

Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye

Firefighters are fighting a widespread forest fire in the area. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye

National Trust Rural Surveyor Rhona Irvine stated that light-sustaining grazing by sheep will help prevent the dominance of individual, more invasive species and reduce the number of woody shrubs.

“This makes the country more resilient to future fire risks by reducing the potential fuel load,” she continued.

“This is how we ensure that rare, important and sensitive species do not perish and that they receive the light and conditions they need to thrive.”

The Trust has looked for solutions that will allow it to further protect the grazing land while minimizing the impact on the burned areas.

“Given the problem of controlling livestock in a landscape that could not possibly be fenced off or divided, we found an innovative solution,” said Ms. Irvine.

“We put ergonomic GPS tracking collars on part of the herd, which regularly record the position of the animals.

“This information is passed on to an app that can be used to assess whether action needs to be taken to move the sheep to different areas of the mountain.”

Conacre farmer John MaBeginning, added, “If we decide that the sheep need to be moved to another area, we will resort to the old-fashioned method of using sheepdogs to move the flock to the new pasture.”

Download the Belfast Telegraph app

Get quick and easy access to the latest Northern Ireland news, sports, business and opinions with the Belfast Telegraph App.