There are prime wildlife conservation areas in the
country, considered to be important on a European as well as Irish level. Most
Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) are in the countryside, although a few
sites reach into town or city landscapes, such as Dublin Bay and Cork Harbour. Conservation management plans are available for many SACs and as additional ones are
approved they will be posted.The legal basis on) which SACs are selected and designated is the EU Habitats Directive, transposed into Irish law by the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 477 of 2011,
as amended.The Directive lists certain habitats and species that must be
protected within SACs. Irish habitats include raised bogs, blanket bogs,
turloughs, sand dunes, machair (flat sandy plains on the north and west
coasts), heaths, lakes, rivers, woodlands, estuaries and sea inlets. The 25
Irish species which must be afforded protection include Salmon, Otter,
Freshwater Pearl Mussel, Bottlenose Dolphin and Killarney Fern.