Mullingar Tidy Towns developing community biodiversity action plan
Photo shows - Nuala Madigan, Irish Peatland Conservation Council, with Mullingar Tidy Towns volunteers, Bill Collentine, Margaret Feely and John Bawle.
In 2019 Mullingar Tidy Towns was awarded funding from the Community Foundation for Ireland to support the development a community biodiversity action plan in 2020. Biodiversity is the variety of plant and animal life we have in our communities. It includes all living things such as large trees, birds, mammals, wildflowers and even tiny mini-beasts.
A biodiversity action plan aims to identify the different types of plants and animals, map where they are and set out a range of actions that aims to protect biodiversity in Mullingar.
To support Mullingar Tidy Towns in developing this plan an ecologist, Nuala Madigan, has been invited to map the habitats in Mullingar and support the community in identifying the variety of plant and animals that call the town their home.
On January 15 representatives from Mullingar Tidy Towns met Nuala to discuss the first stages in developing the plan. They took her on a tour of some of the biodiversity hotspots in the area, including Mullingar Town Park, the Royal Canal and the River Brosna.
On the short tour, even though it was a cold January day, species including Winter Heliotrope and Gorse were identified along the banks of the Brosna. Maidenhair spleenwort was identified on a stonewall in the town park and daisies were already in bloom.
Over the coming months Mullingar Tidy Towns will be asking the community to get involved by keeping a record and the location of the variety of plants and animals you come across.
A spokesperson for Mullingar Tidy Towns said: “In this first stage of the project, it is about letting the community of Mullingar know that we are working on this project.
“We will provide updates to the community and how people can get involved as the project develops over the coming months.
“We, Mullingar Tidy Towns, and Nuala are looking forward to meeting community members and identifying actions that will support us all in protecting our local biodiversity.”
Additional information
• The Community Foundation for Ireland is an Irish response that both mirrors and is different from models of philanthropy worldwide. It has created funds for Ireland which addresses the country’s social needs not just for today but for the future. See communityfoundation.ie.
• Nuala Madigan is the environmental education officer with the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, a charity (CHY6829, RCN 20013547) established in 1982 to conserve a representative portion of Irish peatlands for people to enjoy today and in the future.