Irish boy Levi Coada named International Biosphere Champion in the Young Nature Bloggers Competition

Dublin City Council congratulates Levi Coada on winning the International Biosphere Champion Award in the Young Nature Bloggers Competition.

The competition, organised by Biospheres in the UK and Ireland, invited young people to write a short nature blog, with each participating biosphere reserve selecting a finalist.

The Dublin Bay Biosphere entry, written by 8-year-old Levi Coada, was selected as the overall winner by former chair of the UK Man and the Biosphere Committee, Martin Price, who said, “Levi’s blog was imaginatively written, with a clear message and lots of interesting information, and beautifully illustrated.”

Levi’s blog can be viewed on the Dublin Bay Biosphere website here

Dublin Bay Biosphere Award

Levi is from Sligo and learned about the Dublin Bay Biosphere through a series of webinars organised by the Biosphere Reserve during lockdown which helped inspire his interest in the Dublin Bay Biosphere.

Levi even earned the Dublin Bay Biosphere Award, developed in partnership with Scouting Ireland, which encourages young people to learn about nature and take action to protect it.

Levi said “I am almost 9 years old. I like art and exploring the nature. I am very honoured to win the International Nature Blogger Competition.

“I enjoyed watching the nature webinars organised by Dublin Bay Biosphere and Kerry Biosphere.

“There I learned many new things. Together with my friends, we finished the Nature Challenge and earned the badges for Dublin Bay Biosphere Awards.

“One part of the project was to notice the positive/negative things people do in the nature. The area which we explored was Doorly Park Forest and Garavogue River in Sligo Town.

“There live many ducks, swans, seagulls. People feed them a lot of bread, which is dangerous for their health.

“After learning many things about birds, I was inspired to write my blog post. I hope the people who read this story will never feed them bread again. There are healthier options: boiled rice, sweet corn, chopped lettuce, peas, cut grapes. I tried all these foods, and the birds loved them! And hope the readers will visit beautiful Sligo!

“Fisherman Sam is looking forward to telling them a story!”

Dean Eaton, Biosphere Coordinator, said “We’re delighted Levi was chosen as the Young Nature Blogger International Champion. Levi’s blog was beautifully written and illustrated but also included a well-researched and important message”.