A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora. They are to protect the 220 habitats and approximately 1,000 species listed in annex I and II of the directive which are considered to be of European interest following criteria given in the directive. They must be chosen from the Sites of Community Importance by the member states and designated SAC by an act assuring the conservation measures of the natural habitat.
Coole Park is a nature reserve of approximately 1,000 acres (4 km2) located a few miles west of Gort, County Galway, Ireland. It is managed by the Irish National Parks & Wildlife Service, part of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The park is in a low–lying karstic limestone area characterised by seasonal lakes, known as turloughs, which are almost unique to Ireland. It has extensive woodlands. There are 6 kilometres of signposted nature trails plus a formal late 18th century walled garden.
Killarney National Park, near the town of Killarney, County Kerry, was the first national park in Ireland, created when the Muckross Estate was donated to the Irish Free State in 1932. The park has since been substantially expanded and encompasses over 102.89 km2 of diverse ecology, including the Lakes of Killarney, oak and yew woodlands of international importance, and mountain peaks. It has the only red deer herd on mainland Ireland and the most extensive covering of native forest remaining in Ireland. The park is of high ecological value because of the quality, diversity, and extensiveness of many of its habitats and the wide variety of species that they accommodate, some of which are rare. The park was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1981. The park forms part of a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area.
Lough Gill is a freshwater lough (lake) mainly situated in County Sligo, but partly in County Leitrim, in Ireland. Lough Gill provides the setting for William Butler Yeats' poem "The Lake Isle of Innisfree".
The Uragh Stone Circle is a stone circle near Gleninchaquin Park, Tuosist, County Kerry, Ireland.
The Kerry slug or Kerry spotted slug is a species of terrestrial, pulmonate, gastropod mollusc. It is a medium-to-large sized, air-breathing land slug in the family of roundback slugs, Arionidae.
Clara Bog is one of the largest relatively intact raised bogs remaining in Ireland. It lies southeast of the R436 regional road between the village of Ballycumber and the town of Clara, in County Offaly. Much of the bog is state-owned and managed as a nature reserve covering some 460 ha. A Special Area of Conservation covers 836 ha.
Tuosist is a civil parish in the far south of County Kerry, Ireland. It shares the Béara Peninsula with the neighbouring parishes of County Cork, and the Caha Mountains form the county border. The nearest town is Kenmare. The parish is part of the barony of Glanrought and is divided into three District Electoral Divisions - Dawros, Ardea and Glenmore.
Lough Yganavan and Lough Nambrackdarrig are two lakes of ecological importance in County Kerry, Ireland. In 1988, Lough Nambrackdarrig and the southern half of Lough Yganavan were designated as National Nature Reserves. Since 1998, the lakes have been included in a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) of 271.6 hectares (3 km2), which protects land in private ownership and the two state-owned nature reserves. The habitats in the SAC include fixed dunes, a type of machair.
Cloonee and Inchiquin Loughs, Uragh Wood is the name of a Natura 2000 site in a valley in Tuosist, County Kerry, Ireland. Habitats include lowland oligotrophic lakes (loughs) and oceanic oak woodland.
The Blackwater River or Kerry Blackwater is a river in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. It is not to be confused with the much longer Munster Blackwater, which also rises in County Kerry.
Glengarriff Forest is an area of woodland near Glengarriff, West Cork, Ireland. Most of the woodland is a nature reserve in public ownership which is sometimes referred to as Glengarriff "forest park" or "state forest".
St Gobnet's Wood is a protected area of oak woodland at Baile Bhuirne, County Cork, Ireland. It is on the north-east side of a hill immediately south of the village, and takes its name from the church of Saint Gobnait which is also nearby. Along with Cascade Wood, St Gobnet's Wood is included in a fragmented Special Area of Conservation.
Inchiquin is a barony in County Clare, Ireland. This geographical unit of land is one of 11 baronies in the county. Its chief town is Corofin. It is administered by Clare County Council.
Lough Gill is a freshwater lake in the southwest of Ireland. It is located on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry.
Inchiquin Lough is a freshwater lake in the Mid-West Region of Ireland. It is located in The Burren of County Clare.
Lough Atedaun is a freshwater lake in the Mid-West Region of Ireland. It is located in The Burren of County Clare.
Dromore Lough is a freshwater lake in the Mid-West Region of Ireland. It is located in County Clare.
Annaghmore Lough is a freshwater lake in the west of Ireland. It is located in County Roscommon in the catchment of the upper River Shannon.
Knocksink Wood is a national nature reserve of approximately 129 acres (0.52 km2) located in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is managed by the Irish National Parks & Wildlife Service.
