Biodiversity Week - Doing Our Bit to Protect Nature

This week is Biodiversity Week. and over 50 free, family-friendly events are taking place all over Ireland celebrating our diverse species and habitats. This chance to celebrate our environment is not to be missed and there are lots of opportunities locally.
 
Biodiversity is a term that describes the variety of plant and animal life around us. Earlier this month in Paris representatives from 130 countries approved the most comprehensive assessment of biodiversity ever undertaken. The report released by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warned that biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history and a million species are threatened with extinction.

“The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever,” cautioned IPBES chair Robert Watson. “We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.”
 
In response to this and other reports the Government have declared a climate and biodiversity emergency. The good news is there are already many initiatives doing their bit for biodiversity at the local level. The Community Foundation for Ireland are inviting communities to apply for funding to develop a Community Biodiversity Plan (CBP).  Protecting and restoring biodiversity is also part of the Tidy Towns competition with special awards for clean air, water, waste prevention, trees and local heritage. The pollinator award encourages Tidy Towns committees to help reverse the decline in bee populations by leaving wild flowers along roadsides and in the margins of fields, and by planting pollinator-friendly flowers and trees in parks and gardens.
 
The theme for Biodiversity Week 2019 is ‘Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health’. Details of all the events taking place around the country, including the Cloughjordan Biodiversity Week Festival, can be found on the National Biodiversity Week Facebook pages.
 
On Saturday the 25th of May a Nature Trail will begin at the entrance of the Ecovillage on Cloughjordan Main Street at 11am. Participants will learn about the healing benefits of about 20 herbs found throughout the sustainable community project. In the afternoon at 2pm a workshop will take place in the new education area of the Cloughjordan Community Farm, located at the Step Road entrance to the Ecovillage. This event will show how to make habitats for pollinators from natural and reused materials. These events are free of charge and all are welcome to attend.
 
Lorna Gold, who speaks extensively on Pope Francis’ Laudato Sí, a call for the world to to address biodiversity and its loss, will be in Cloughjordan on the 29th of June for a one day festival called ‘Elements of Change’. Lorna is the author of a new book ‘Climate Generation: Awakening to Our Children’s Future’, in which she shares her personal journey in coming to understand what climate change means to her as a mother. Lorna will be joined by other speakers and musicians on the Community Amphitheatre to celebrate and showcase the elements of a sustainable future. More details can be found at www.cultivate.ie