A project to protect corncrakes and other vulnerable birds from predators such as feral cats is among 78 local community biodiversity action plans that will share more than \u20ac500,000 in State funding. <\/p>\n
Some \u20ac542,250 is being provided through a partnership established in 2019 between the National Parks and Wildlife Service<\/a> and Community Foundation Ireland, which to date has grant aided 250 community biodiversity action plans.<\/p>\n The corncrake resumed breeding on the Aran Island of Inis M\u00f3r two years ago and funding to protect the endangered bird\u2019s new nesting habitats will include a trial hay meadow. Other measures will be taken to reduce the threat from predators, including putting bell collars on feral cats. <\/p>\n In west Cork<\/a>, the community in Skibbereen<\/a> is being supported to identify the needs of local biodiversity in order to become a green town that protects and promotes nature.<\/p>\n Other projects to receive funding include a 24-hour \u201cshore blitz\u201d with training, education and reporting on local wildlife and habitats along the Co Louth coast, and an awareness and education programme about the limestone karst rock landscape of south Co Roscommon.<\/p>\n The Copper Coast Geo Park in Co Waterford is working with farmers, community groups and schools to map habitats and create an action plan protecting local biodiversity.<\/p>\n Previous recipients of funding, such as Crumlin Community Clean Up in Dublin, will receive further support for a dispersed orchard, workshops, a local garden competition and community events.<\/p>\n Ardan Wood in Co Westmeath is to receive funding for a wild-flower meadow, new habitats for wildlife, a kestrel nesting box, roost boxes for bats and to manage invasive species. The Irish Woodland Trust is to provide signage to raise awareness for visitors and locals.<\/p>\n Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity Christopher O\u2019Sullivan said the \u201chugely impactful funding scheme is unique in that it supports communities to protect and restore their local biodiversity by working with ecologists to create a plan and put it into action\u201d. <\/p>\n Community Foundation Ireland chief executive Denise Charlton said local communities \u201care crucial if we are to address the challenges highlighted by ecologists, researchers and other experts\u201d about the crisis in nature.<\/p>\n National Parks and Wildlife Service director general Niall \u00d3 Donnchu added: \u201cWe welcome the increasing focus on citizen science, community outreach and engagement with schools, all of which are key to addressing the biodiversity crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A project to protect corncrakes and other vulnerable birds from predators such as feral cats is among 78…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[269],"tags":[49772,1877,18,440,19,17,23664,31340,3618,133,103813,5049,19871],"class_list":{"0":"post-318413","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-christopher-osullivan","9":"tag-cork","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-louth","15":"tag-national-parks-and-wildlife-service","16":"tag-nature","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-skibbereen","19":"tag-waterford","20":"tag-westmeath"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116008000159674168","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}