LEADER In The Community

Spotlight On:

Water Biodiversity Training Programme for Duhallow Communities

In 2022, with the aid of LEADER funding, IRD Duhallow was delighted to deliver Water Biodiversity Training Programme for Duhallow Communities. The overall aim of this project was to equip local community and voluntary groups with the knowledge and skills necessary to plan for water biodiversity in their local area and to ensure it has minimum negative impact and maximum benefit for the local environment.

This project met the needs of community groups in Duhallow who identified a lack of knowledge and education in successfully approaching Water Biodiversity initiatives. The need for this training was identified through

outreach work carried out by IRD Duhallow whereby this project provided comprehensive training in water biodiversity to help communities to help themselves and deliver local area impacts through targeted action.

The Water Biodiversity Training Programme is in keeping with a long running history of community based environmental action in Duhallow that has stimulated the area through a bottom up approach to citizen led environmental science. IRD Duhallow engaged a qualified Consultancy team to develop this training, with development

potential of local projects and roll out of Citizen Science locally. The project facilitated networking and cooperation between people of all ages including young people, community groups and farmers.

It provided an ideal learning environment for those involved and brought people together who may not have met otherwise was it not for this project.