This area contains a diverse series of habitats. It includes open water, Lake Shore, fen-raised bog, wet meadow and willow scrub communities. The flora and fauna of the area is relatively rich. The Lough is a wild bird sanctuary of national status. The area also contains a number of archaeological monuments dating to the early Christian period. On the Eastern side of the heritage zone a small area of raised bog is being cut for fuel. The cutting in this area is both traditional (with a slean) and using mechanical excavators. The surface of the intact bog is generally dry and firm though a few wet patches occur and one or two man made pools are present.

On the intact surface, mosses cover 95%, gramineae 40% and herbs 5-10%, with ericoid shrubs covering 60% of ground. Occasional deep bog pools occur between the rectangular ridges. Some of these are becoming in filled with sphagnum moss. The pools often show bare peat sides. The pool habitats are rich in aquatic insect life. As one walks from west to east over this area the major feature is the occurrence of numerous fossil pine stumps in the situ which attest to the presence of fairly open space pine woodland on the bog surface possibly 4,000 years ago.

It is now recognised that peat is a non-renewable natural resource with an estimated life span of about ten and therefore should be sensitively developed. Alternative uses for peat are being sought.