Initiative launched to help Offaly areas develop peatlands project
A new project ‘Connecting Communities with Peatlands’ which was awarded funding from the National Just Transition Fund has been launched in Offaly today.
The project is an initiative of Irish Rural Link (IRL) – the national network representing the interest of rural communities and the Community Wetlands Forum (CWF) – a representative platform for community-led conservation groups.
The priority of the project is to provide transitioning supports to community-led groups in the Wider Midlands region, which includes counties Kildare, Laois, Offaly, Longford, Westmeath, Roscommon, North Tipperary, and East Galway.
The project aims to support community engagement with peatlands by providing capacity-building training and workshops to community groups to develop projects with peatlands that are beneficial to their local areas and the environment.
It was launched by the Just Transition Commissioner, Kieran Mulvey, at an outdoor event in Pollagh Community Centre today.
A handbook, Guidelines for Communities Managing Local Wetlands and Peatlands, for community groups wishing to engage with their local peatland will also be published online.
A Just Transition refers to the ‘transition’ or change that a community experiences when climate action policies impact the community’s economic and social activities.
Communities in the Midlands have been impacted by the closure of peat harvesting plants and the move away from extracting and burning peat for energy to establish renewable energy sources and rehabilitate peatlands for the storage of carbon, in line with National and EU climate action policies. This kind of transition can be very difficult for communities if the process does not include them.
Irish Rural Link and the Community Wetlands Forum realise the importance of community involvement in conservation of peatlands.
The intended outcome of the project is to have community groups across the wetlands engaging in their own projects in relation to their local peatland. This can range from information workshops, to carrying out citizen science, to creating a recreational amenity.
Aoife Kirk, Project Coordinator of Connecting Communities with Peatlands, said: “Peatlands have been valued for their economic output for the last number of decades, and the communities that benefitted socially and economically from peatlands are now looking at a world without industrial peat harvesting. But this doesn’t mean that peatlands don’t have anything to offer their communities anymore – they have something else to offer. Communities across the Midlands who are members of the Community Wetlands Forum have had these successes, like those at Abbeyleix Bog, Clara Bog, Scohaboy Bog and more. The handbook that we have published today is a great starting point for any community group to begin their engagement with peatlands.”
Seamus Boland, CEO of IRL, said: “Just transition means that our bogs and wetlands must be seen by communities as real assets in the area and with careful planning can be developed to create local jobs as well as being places of world interest in terms of bio diversity.”
Kieran Mulvey, Just Transition Commissioner, says: “I am particularly pleased to be invited here today to give my support as JT to this project. It has the specific value of having an impact across the Midlands. I am concerned however that we must ensure that all projects approved receive their funding within the next month and where there are difficulties that these are resolved as soon as possible.”
“This project will provide communities with the tools and skills to be involved in the Just Transition process by supporting community-led engagement with peatlands. Community groups are being listened to – a key component of Just Transition – and they are informing the capacity building training that they need to engage with stakeholders to navigate the significant societal, economic and environmental changes that are occurring in the Midlands.”
“The Guidelines handbook, published today, is a helpful starting point for established and new community groups to engage with their local peatland through science, arts, or culture and heritage; to learn about wetlands, their restoration; forming community groups; and seeking funding. If successful, the project will bring about more sustainable communities, and the protection and wise use of peatlands.”
Community groups interested in engaging with their local peatland and individuals who may own peatland are encouraged to participate in ‘Connecting Communities with Peatlands’ and can contact aoife@irishrurallink.ie for further information on the project and on upcoming workshops.