Funding for biodiversity plan in Clough'
Major boost for local efforts
The Cloughjordan Community Development Association (CCDA) have been awarded a grant from Community Foundation Ireland and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to carry out a Community Biodiversity Action Plan for the village and the CCDA have engaged ecologist Anne Marie Mahon to carry out the consultation and mapping process.
This is a major boost for local efforts to protect and support local wildlife, plants and nature. Anne Marie has worked with groups across North Tipperary including with the Lorrha Development Association and with Friar’s Lough Biodiversity Plan, SCÉAL.
This will be the first time Cloughjordan has undertaken a village plan and it will involve working with a wide range of local groupings including St Michael’s and Cloughjordan No 1 primary schools, local Church groups, Kilruane MacDonagh’s GAA Club, Cloughjordan FC and more.
There will be public consultation sessions with Cloughjordan Tidy Towns Group for people to learn more about actions for nature, big or small, that people can undertake in their gardens, fields etc. Most of the consultations will take place during May and the information will be shared beforehand.
The CCDA are to the fore in developing and collaborating on effective community based responses to the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.
As the local partners in the raised bog restoration programme at Scohaboy Bog SAC and the Knockanacree Woodlands ‘close to nature’ project, the CCDA have ‘put their actions where their mouth is’ in successfully collaborating with the NPWS, Coillte Forest and over fifty private landowners in key ‘for climate, nature and people’ projects that protect and conserve unique and irreplaceable habitats of international importance for the generations to come.
Congratulating the successful community awards, Denise Charlton, Chief Executive of Community Foundation Ireland said: “We all know nature is in crisis. Once familiar bird songs, the fleeting sight of a passing animal and even our creepy crawlies and native plants are disappearing. Local actions are key to addressing this. Since partnering with the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 2019, we are now working with 300 communities on local biodiversity action plans.
“This unique partnership not only brings together the foundation’s private philanthropic funds with public money, but it also partners communities with the insights and skills of expert ecologists. I look forward to hearing about the success of the work ahead.” Niall Ó Donnchú, Director General of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, added: “This partnership between NPWS and Community Foundation Ireland supports action for nature at the local level. We welcome the increasing focus on citizen science, community outreach and engagement with schools, all of which are key to addressing the biodiversity crisis.”
This year’s grants are supported by philanthropic funding from Community Foundation Ireland and its donors, including a major contribution from the Sunflower Charitable Foundation, along with funding from the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.