The County Carlow Biodiversity Action Plan 2023 – 2025 sets out a Vision “to further improve our understanding of County Carlow’s biodiversity and take actions for its conservation and restoration”.
The first part of this vision, Biodiversity Awareness, underpins the latter part. In Ireland, many plants and insects look very similar, or almost identical, like the Small Blue butterfly and the Common Blue butterfly, which are both found in Carlow. However, one is very rare and the other is not, and knowing the difference is critical to understanding their conservation value. Similarly, there are alder and ash trees found throughout the county, but where they occur on wet ground along the River Barrow, they form part of the rare and protected alluvial woodland habitat.
Understanding why and how to manage such habitats is particularly important for decision-makers who have an influence in biodiversity conservation, and there is a need to further strengthen the knowledge base in Carlow, through surveys of habitats and species, encouraging surveyors to strengthen their identification skills, increasing awareness among landowners and the general public, and ensuring decision makers have access to all available information.
Awareness initiatives are carried out throughout the year to coincide with seasons, national events (e.g. International Biodiversity Day and National Heritage Week), and in response to projects funded under the Local Biodiversity Action Fund (in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service) and the Local Biodiversity Action Plan Fund (Heritage Council).
These initiatives are promoted through Carlow County Council’s Social Media and Local Media as they arise.
For further information, please contact the Carlow Biodiversity Officer at environment@carlowcoco.ie