Funding for Milltownpass and Tyrrellspass under Natura
Funding for Milltownpass Tidy Towns and ETHOS (Tyrrellspass) is included in the €800,000 for community projects under the Peatlands and Natura Community Engagement Scheme this week.
Funding will support a range of projects, from monitoring of Bottle Nose Dolphins in Clare, to a BioFest in Cork, and a ‘Bog Bothy Festival’ in Dublin.
In this area, Milltownpass Tidy Towns has received €5,658 for ‘Discovering Milltownpass; Bog Botanical Ecosystem Project’; ETHOS has received €1,872 Peat Monitoring on Cloncrow Bog Project; and Clara Heritage Society has received €8,400 for ‘Bog Trotter Festival and Summer Solstice Celebration 2025 Project’.
A total of 45 projects will benefit from additional funding allocated under this year’s scheme.
Minister for Housing, Heritage and Local Government James Browne, TD, and Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity Christopher O’Sullivan, TD, announced the €800,000 funding under the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Peatlands and Natura Community Engagement Scheme 2025.
The Peatlands and Natura Community Engagement Scheme supports local initiatives for the conservation and revitalisation of Natura 2000 Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Areas (SPA) and all peatland areas.
It is aimed at community-led and volunteer groups and promotes awareness of, and engagement with our natural heritage and environment.
Projects funded through the scheme this year will support the following activities:
• Conducting surveys to inform management plans for Natura 2000 and peatland sites
• Public outreach, such as the production of information booklets, brochures and training manuals, awareness and education events, education programmes and hosting of seminars with expert speakers
• Invasive species training and management
• Nature and Heritage events nationwide.
Natura 2000
Natura 2000 is a European network of sites designated for the protection of threatened species and habitats, on both land and sea. The Natura 2000 network, compromising some 27,000 sites, is the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world. The Natura network of sites is comprised of Special Protection Areas (SPAs), established under the EU Birds Directive, and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), established under the Habitats Directive.