As part of the EU project on the shared green deal, Ballyhoura Development CLG has been selected to initiate a project around preserving biodiversity.

The project will involve working with interested individuals, community groups, stakeholders and the wider community to examine biodiversity in the Ballyhoura region.

The outcome of the project will be a framework for how we can preserve the biodiversity present in the region and what can be done to help improve it.

Ballyhoura, a region in east Limerick and north Cork around the foothills of the Ballyhoura mountains and the Galtee mountains, was selected because of its varied habitats, ranging from mountainous regions, uplands, waterways and lowlands, to rich arable land in the Golden Vale.

Co-ordinating the project are John Scanlan and Rhiannon Laubach from Ballyhooura Development CLG.

Shared green deal

Twenty-four local partners have been chosen by the Shard Green Deal consortium to work locally across six different European green deal topics: clean energy, circular economy, preserving biodiversity, sustainable mobility, efficient renovations and sustainable food.

The partners represent local organisations or local governments from all over Europe and have the opportunity to contribute to the local implementation of the green deal priorities, create and strengthen relationships with their community and local institutions while benefiting from the learning outcomes that can be adopted as part of their own processes.

This social experiment stream will set up so-called study circles, within which adult participants will explore cultural values linked to biodiversity, biodiversity loss and potential solutions in rural and urban areas.

It will place local communities and the general public at the forefront of solutions to achieve the EU’s biodiversity strategy.

Stop, look and listen

This project that Ballyhoura Development CLG is undertaking will entail lots of discussions and enable collaboration between rural and urban and working together in cohesion to ‘stop, look and listen’ in this rural local area.

Co-ordinator John Scanlan outlines the importance of this project.

“The main part for us at Ballyhoura is to highlight our region and what we need to do while looking at preservation and what people can do at a local level.

"A lot of people think ‘Oh sure I can’t do it I have no impact’, but it is a local impact. The idea is we want to gather people to do a year-long project as part of the EU green deal,” he explained.

Connecting people with nature

The Ballyhoura Development Group is looking for volunteers to take part in the project. No prior knowledge of biodiversity is needed to participate in the initiative.

The project will commence at an information evening on Tuesday 27 June in the Deebert House Hotel, Kilmallock.

Guest speaker on the night will be biologist, radio and television presenter, author and educator Éanna Ní Lamhna, who will share her vast experience and knowledge of Irish biodiversity.

For more information, visit here.

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