Donegal community efforts to protect and promote local plants, wildlife and nature are getting a major boost with five projects being supported to develop and implement local action plans.
The plans are being supported under a long-standing partnership between Community Foundation Ireland and its philanthropists with the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Under the partnership communities in Donegal and across the country are provided access to expert ecologists to decide the best ways to protect or promote wildlife and then to implement through the Action Plan.
Some 252 communities across the country have been supported by the Community Foundation and the Parks Service since 2019.
The latest Donegal Groups are:
Bundoran Tidy Towns (€5,000) to engage an ecologist to work with the community and develop a biodiversity action plan.
Dunkineely Tidy Towns (€5,000) to build on existing local heritage work by developing a biodiversity action plan which help inform future work to protect nature and habitats.
Barrack Hill Town Park Steering Committee (€10,000) to introduce up to 1,000 haw-thorn and black-thorn shrubs, endangered clovers and other native species in line with a pre-existing local action plan.
Culdaff Development Association (€6,210) to protect and promote local Sand-dunes essential not just for native wildlife but also in order to shelter the local community from extreme weather events.
Spraoi agus Sport Family Centre, Carndonagh (€12,000) to develop a native tree and shrub nursery for planting in the local community and habitats.
Making the announcement of support for the latest biodiversity projects, Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity Christopher O’Sullivan TD said: “If we are to successfully tackle our national biodiversity crisis, we must all work together. This partnership between the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Community Foundation Ireland is a great example of how we can empower and support community organisations to learn about their local biodiversity and use that knowledge along with their creativity to come up with a plan which is unique to their area. I’m really impressed with the range of projects involved and excited to see the outcomes of their work.”
Congratulating all the projects, Denise Charlton, Chief Executive of Community Foundation Ireland said “We are particularly proud that local efforts in Donegal to protect habitats, plants and wildlife are increasingly growing into a national movement. The fact that this current grant round is impacting in every county shows the groundswell of support for biodiversity action. The partnership of the Foundation, its philanthropists and community partners together with the National Parks and Wildlife Service is effective and works. Our natural heritage is being protected for generations to come.”
