Never a group to sit back and rest on their laurels, Transition Town Kinsale’s latest project is the development of a Community Biodiversity Plan. The group recently received a €10,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Ireland to do this for the area. According to the UN IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, released in May 2019, there is a catastrophic decline of biodiversity worldwide, with one million species threatened with extinction.
TTK’s first step is to host a public meeting to inform and engage with the community, this will take place this Thursday, February 13th, in the Friary Centre at 7.30pm.

Ecologist Jo Goodyear will give a presentation on the night. Ms. Goodyear is an ecologist specialising in botany and habitat survey and management with 20 years experience. After finishing her MSc in Environmental Management (U. Leics), she worked in agro-ecology research at the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (UK) and University College Cork, and in ecological consultancy in the UK and Ireland. Currently an ecological adviser to Cork Nature Network, she regularly leads plant foraging walks to introduce people to the wonders of nature all around them and is also a qualified herbalist.

As part of the funding application 5 sites around the area were identified. This Spring Ms. Goodyear will begin to classify these local habitats, catalogue biodiversity and define a suite of actions to enhance biodiversity in these areas. Working with other community groups, such as the Tidy Towns, Flower Club, etc., TTK will be organising Workshops over the year.

All information will be collated and the data submitted to the National Biodiversity Data Centre by December 2020, with a formal Community Biodiversity Plan due for publication in March 2021.

If you are interested in learning more about this excellent Transition Town Kinsale project, go along to the Friary Centre this Thursday at 7.30pm. All are welcome.