Lord Mayor Sharon Haughey commented, “I want to congratulate the Project Officers and Steering Committee who have worked extremely hard to raise the profile of Biodiversity throughout the region. Projects like this are very important to ensure a richer and more diverse environment is protected for generations to come”.
Funded by the European Union’s INTERREG IVA Cross Border Programme, Action for Biodiversity is a three year project which commenced in 2011 and covers the ten local authority areas in the East Border Region. The main aim of the project is to engage Councils, Businesses and Communities in the biodiversity process by raising awareness and producing and implementing plans for protecting priority habitats and species.
Three biodiversity project officers are employed through the project. Since commencing in post the Officers have been working tirelessly to overcome the inconsistency in the way biodiversity is regarded across the region. Some local authorities currently have little provision for their wildlife resources while others are forging ahead with implementing Biodiversity Action Plans. The important learning from his project is that the Local Authorities support each other and each makes a step change towards protecting the Biodiversity in our region.
Since its inception the Action for Biodiversity project has trained Local Authority Elected Members and Officers on protection of Biodiversity, completed an attitude survey amongst the general public, developed a dedicated Communication Plan, hosted a variety of awareness raising events, delivered local and regional projects on the ground and are in the process of publishing the very first regional Biodiversity framework on the island of Ireland.
The annual Awards is organised by the Hillsborough based publishers of Sustainable Ireland, 4Square Media, and is now widely regarded as the premier event in the Irish Environmental, Waste Management and Energy sectors, attracting entries, support and sponsorship from all the leading players across the industry.
The Action for Biodiversity Officers are currently working on the development of their interactive project website www.actionforbiodiversity.eu . The website will be launched in the coming weeks and will highlight the development of the project and future activities so watch this space!