NGO wants people to celebrate biodiversity in Ballymun this Biodiversity Week

An environmental NGO in Ballymun is inviting people of all ages to come and re-discover nature in the north Dublin community to mark Nation Biodiversity Week.

Global Action Plan, an organisation specialising in environmental education, is running a series of free events to celebrate the week, running from May 13 to 22.

“National Biodiversity Week is all about connecting people with nature and, more importantly, about communicating the importance of biodiversity in our everyday lives,” says Emer Savage, education programme coordinator at the organisation.

“But it is also about having fun, and enjoying being out in nature, in all its diversity.”

To mark Biodiversity Week, Global Action Plan is hosting a number of free events, both in-person and online, “celebrating the beauty and wonder of the natural world.”

The ‘Urban Bio-Blitz’ event is a citizen science initiative, where people are invited to record and submit data to the National Biodiversity Database while the ‘Get To Know Your Weeds’ event explores the value of plants commonly referred to as weeds.

“We are inviting people to come to Poppintree park in Ballymun, to enjoy the beauty of the park, and to take part in our nature trails with a difference,” Savage says.

“Those who take part will probably never look at weeds through the same eyes again.

“And those who cannot make it to Ballymun, can participate in our free online seminars: one of our seminars explores the links between biodiversity and human health; the other looks at the threats posed to the diversity of our natural world by climate change,” she says.

More details about the events hosted by Global Action Plan are available on the organisation’s website here.

“This year’s Biodiversity Week takes on another level of importance, as it coincides with the Citizens Assembly that the Government has organised, to discuss the threats to our natural environment,” said Hans Zomer, CEO of Global Action Plan.

“As an organisation with experience in promoting environmental awareness, Global Action Plan is keen to ensure that the people and communities we work with are heard as the Citizens Assembly considers the complexities of biodiversity loss.

“Local communities play a vital role in biodiversity conservation and we would encourage everyone who has an opinion or a particular experience to contact us, so we can help them get heard in the discussions,” said Zomer.