Lough Yganavan and Lough Nambrackdarrig ( Irish: ''Loch Gaineamháin agus Loch na mBreac Dearg'') are two lakes of ecological importance in

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. In 1988, Lough Nambrackdarrig and the southern half of Lough Yganavan were designated as National Nature Reserves (areas in ha: 3.9 & 25.3). Since 1998, the lakes have been included in a

Special Area of Conservation 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 ap ...

(SAC) of , which protects land in private ownership and the two state-owned nature reserves. The habitats in the SAC include fixed

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

s, a type of

machair A machair (; sometimes machar in English) is a fertile low-lying grassy plain found on part of the northwestern coastlines of Ireland and Scotland, particularly the Outer Hebrides. The best examples are found on North and South Uist, Harris ...

Fauna

The SAC is one of a small number of areas in which the rare

Kerry Slug The Kerry slug or Kerry spotted slug (''Geomalacus maculosus'') is a species of terrestrial, pulmonate, gastropod mollusc. It is a medium-to-large sized, air-breathing land slug in the Family (biology), family of roundback slugs, Arionidae. Ad ...

and

Natterjack Toad The natterjack toad (''Epidalea calamita'') is a toad native to sandy and heath (habitat), heathland areas of Europe and the United Kingdom. Adults are in length, and are distinguished from common toads by a yellow line down the middle of the b ...

are found.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yganavan Lakes of County Kerry Protected areas of County Kerry Protected areas established in 1988 Special Areas of Conservation in the Republic of Ireland Nature reserves in the Republic of Ireland