Coronavirus fails to put the brakes on National Biodiversity Week 2020
LAST week saw National Biodiversity Week 2020 take place, with International World Biodiversity Day having taken place on Friday, May 22.
In recent weeks, many people have remarked on how well Biodiversity is doing at the local level with greater numbers and varieties of butterflies, bees, you name it, to see.
Biodiversity Week is an opportunity to share our love for nature and to learn about what each and everyone of us can do to minimise (or indeed maximise) our impact, reminding us of the saying ‘ leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photos’.
In celebrating aspects of life that are important to us, from sporting triumphs to triumphs of nature, this is most often done by people gathering together.
Usually National Biodiversity week is full of walks and talks, with hundreds and even thousands of people getting involved, and how unusual then it has been in 2020 with us not having been in a position to hold such gatherings.
Notwithstanding this, people are taking the time to notice nature that bit more and learn of all the wonders and features of life.
We, too, are part of the world’s biodiversity, and it is hoped that Biodiversity Week 2021 will see the greatest involvement yet by people.
In promoting Biodiversity Week, an online initiative, #LoveNature, was rolled out to raise awareness of Ireland’s biodiversity by promoting public engagement through digital resources.
There is a wealth of information online from the heritage section of Cork County Council’s website, www. corkcoco.ie, to many others. Take, for example, the National Biodiversity Data Centre (www.biodiversityireland. ie) and the website of the Irish Environmental Network (IEN).
The IEN has recently compiled a list of opportunities to stay in touch with nature in the digital realm, and their website, https://ien.ie/onlinenature/, includes a fine list of interesting links – such examples including interactive nature craft workshops and a course on how to identify and record common Irish bumblebees.
As noted by the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan TD, when speaking of the #LoveNature Initiative, “Biodiversity isn’t about one week, it’s an ongoing mission to educate and inspire” nature, including the County Cork COVID-19 photography competition (which includes animal pictures as a category) and, of course, the Council’s support for the printing of Juanita Browne’s publication, ‘Gardening for Biodiversity’.
This was posted on Cork County Council’s Facebook page just a few weeks back, and since then the demand for the publication has gone in to the hundreds. It is wonderful to see so many take pride in the part they can play in helping nature thrive on their own doorsteps, and for anyone looking for a copy to be posted out to them, simply email Cork County Council at cork.heritage@corkcoco.ie.