Biodiversity Plan launched — 'will enhance the space we live in'
The successful implementation of Kilcullen's Biodiversity Action Plan 2021-25 'will involve many individuals and groups in the community', writes Brian Byrne. That was the view of Noel Clare of Kilcullen Community Action following the official launch of the Plan last evening.
It was one of ten such community plans in the Kildare Community Biodiversity Project launched at a webinar hosted by County Kildare Leader Partnership and Kildare County Council. The other communities are Allenwood, Ballitore, Ballymore Eustace, Carbury, Celbridge, Clane, Kill, Monasterevin, and Newbridge.
The event included the presentation of two photographic exhibitions — Wildlife of Irish Peatlands by Tina Claffey, and Wildlife of Kildare by Suzanne Behan.
 |
| Maeve Howe. Image via Zoom. |
Opening the webinar, CKLP's Rural Development Environmental Officer Maeve Howe said the evening was a celebration of a project which had been in progress since 2019. The concept developed from a suggestion by County Kildare Heritage Officer Bridget Loughlin that a number of communities in discussion with Leader for biodiversity funding could be brought together under a common project.
Maeve Howe recalled the launch event in Newbridge in February of last year, following which the plan was to start training by Green Pine Consultants the next month and complete it through the summer. "Then we went into lockdown, and postponed it until the autumn, thinking we would be in a position then to resume in-person training. But in September we decided we had to go the virtual route." She thanked Brian Gaynor and Dr Fiona MacGowan of Green Pine Consultants for keeping the momentum going through last year with a series of Newsletters to the ten communities.
 |
| Bridget Loughlin. Image via Zoom. |
Bridget Loughlin expressed her thanks to Leader for the support of the project, and to the consultants and the community groups for 'pivoting' in the face of Covid. "We spent many nights looking at each other through screens, and I didn't know if we would get the actions done ... but in fact many of them are already in place."
She then noted that the celebration webinar was dedicated to the memory of the late Paddy Sheridan of Wild Kildare, who passed away at the end of 2020. "He established Wild Kildare with some help from us in Kildare County Council. Biodiversity was his thing, and he has left a fabulous legacy."
 |
| Jimmy O'Byrne. Image via Zoom. |
The meeting heard an appreciation of Paddy Sheridan given by Jimmy O'Byrne of Wild Kildare. He described his late colleague as 'no ordinary man' who had 'touched every community' in Kildare with his passion for conservation. "He placed Swift boxes in every town and village, and Dipper boxes under nearly every bridge in the county," Jimmy noted, adding that the Dipper boxes now have 80pc occupancy. "Probably less well known was his Curlew project, which has also been a big success. He really kept the bird ticking over in the county, working with gun clubs and other community groups."
Commenting on Paddy Sheridan's 'amazing' knowledge of butterflies, moths and birds, and how he encouraged others to get involved in monitoring, he said Paddy has 'expanded science with his huge database'. The comment line on the webinar expressed similar sentiments. Evonne Boland described him as a 'hugely inspirational force for promoting and protecting the natural world'. Ray Kelly said 'his knowledge was immeasurable'.
 |
| Image via Zoom. |
The photographs presentation by Tina Claffey was a journey through the seasons with some of her extraordinary and award-winning shots of flora and fauna in Ireland's boglands. Her specialisation is macro photography, and she provided a view of nature which most people don't see. The images ranged through close ups of sphagnum moss, frogspawn, newts, bogbean, damsel flies, the amazing Raft Spider and much more. She told the meeting that she is working on a new book, as her 2017 publication 'Tapestry of Light' is sold out.
 |
| One of Suzanne Behan's pictures. Image via Zoom. |
This was followed by a show of wildlife still and video images from Ballitore-based Suzanne Behan, set to music by Brian Hughes from Athy. They very much reflected her personal convictions as an avid supporter of wildlife conservation. Again, the comments showed great appreciation from those at the webinar, who will have a chance to see her next exhibition, 'Portal', scheduled for the Riverbank in April-May.
 |
| Brian Gaynor. Image via Zoom. |
For the main business of the evening, Brian Gaynor of Green Pine Consultants thanked everybody involved in the project, and said that going virtual had worked 'pretty well'. He outlined the format of the Biodiversty Action Plans, and emphasised that by enhancing biodiversity, 'we are also enhancing the spaces we live in'. "It is well worth investing time and resources into that."
Dr Fiona MacGowan from Green Pine thanked all for their enthusiasm and interest, and noted that there were a range of common actions as well as individual elements for each community. She said that networking between the ten towns and villages would be important, especially when dealing with invasive species on the River Liffey, which flows through several of the communities involved.
That was reinforced when Bridget Loughlin was closing the proceedings. She said that the project 'would not be standing still' now that this stage has been reached. "One of the things that came out of our discussions was the need to bring these communities together, to identify actions and resources, and I hope we'll kick that off soon, on Zoom."
The Heritage Officer also revealed that she is currently seeking funding to continue the biodiversity project with ten more communities in the county. "Thank you all for participating," she concluded. "This has also been an exercise in resilience and pivoting for Covid."
The Kilcullen Biodiversity Action Plan 2021-25 can be downloaded here.
