Pollination project marks 35 years of Gaisce
To celebrate 35 years of Gaisce – the President’s Award - the organisation is encouraging people in Tipperary, regardless of age, location or size of back garden, to take up their own Gaisce challenge this autumn and plant a pollinator-friendly bulb to protect one of the most important players in the climate change battle – bees.
If planted in autumn, the bulbs will bloom in spring. The #BulbsForBees campaign is supported by President Michael D Higgins and the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, who have worked with Gaisce to undertake the largest ever pollination project in Ireland. The pollinator friendly bulbs will bloom in spring, creating a variety of flowers including crocus tommasinianus barr’s purple, allium moly and muscari armeniacum.
Over the next two weeks, over 50,000 pollinator-friendly bulbs will make their way to every post-primary school in the country; to Gaisce Award Partners including disability services, prisons and volunteer centres with the help of An Post; and over 300,000 bulbs through the Irish Local Development Network for distribution to the wider youth and community sector with support from the Department of Children, Equality, Integration, Disability and Youth, these bulbs will be provided for free.
You can find out how to participate in the project and how to receive a certificate of participation from the Gaisce – the President’s Award website. The #BulbsForBees campaign is supported by Lidl, An Post, and the ILDN, and is funded by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
Commenting in support of the campaign, President of Ireland Michael D Higgins, said: "I thank all those who will be partaking in this special Gaisce challenge and who, by doing so, make a profound statement of their real desire to protect the life we share on this planet."
Also commenting, Yvonne McKenna CEO of Gaisce – The President’s Award, said: "We are calling on people in Tipperary to pick up a pollinator bulb and plant it to help safeguard the future of our vital bee population. One third of our bee species is threatened with extinction in Ireland. This is because we have drastically reduced the number of flowers they eat and places where they can safely nest.
"We’re asking everyone from schools and local authorities to sports clubs and shops to come together and create an Ireland where pollinators can survive and thrive."
Padraig Casey, CEO, Ballyhoura Development, commented: "Ballyhoura Development are delighted to be part of #BulbsForBees, which is the biggest-ever pollination project to take place in Ireland. Communities across the Ballyhoura area are passionate about the environment and getting involved with #BulbsForBees is a really accessible way for everyone in the community to take part and make a difference.
"Bees are such a vital part of the environment and that is why it’s so important that as many people as possible get out and plant a pollinator-friendly bulb this autumn, so we encourage you all to pop a bulb in the ground and enjoy spring colour for years to come while helping the environment."
BULB DISTRIBUTION
The bulbs will be distributed to community and voluntary groups all over Ireland and there will be two Irish Local Development Network offices in Tipperary distributing bulbs in the county. These are: South Tipperary Development Company, 2C Carrigeen Commercial Park, Clogheen Road, Cahir, TIPPERARY, E21HV20 and North Tipperary Development Company 2nd Floor, Friars Court, Nenagh, TIPPERARY, E45KN59.
The campaign is also open to all members of the public (you don’t have to be in a school or a member of a voluntary/ community group to plant bulbs). Gaisce is also asking people to go to their local garden centres to purchase bulbs themselves and plant a pollinator friendly bulb.
For more information please visit: www.gaisce.ie/bulbsforbees/.