New birdwatching kits to support Mayo public's engagement with nature
MAYO Biodiversity Office and Mayo Library have launched birdwatching kits - a novel initiative to support the public to engage with nature in the county.
The launch was part of Mayo County Council's celebrations for National Biodiversity Week.
Mayo is uniquely positioned in supporting rare and threatened bird species due to its location, habitats and conservation efforts of many EIPs, LIFE projects, NPWS, and landowners and farmers.
The birdwatching kits will allow people with all backgrounds, ages and birdwatching experience to explore and embrace Mayo’s abundance of vast and diverse birdlife. The kits hope to encourage and make engaging with nature and birdwatching accessible to all, from interested members of the public, community groups, to schools and youth groups.
The kits allow for members of the public to use field equipment, books and guides to make learning, discovering and exploring nature open to everyone. It also encourages citizen science among the public and showcases how our actions and records are critical to build a picture of nature in Mayo, to aid conversation efforts and projects.
The birdwatching kit contains a set of high-quality binoculars, a how to guide in logging citizen science records, a fold out guide to the top Irish birds, two guidebooks, all within a waterproof rucksack.
From June onwards, library members will be able to borrow the birdwatching kits from all 14 libraries in County Mayo through a deposit scheme. The council plans to build upon these kits by adding in additional wildlife surveying equipment and guides over time.
The cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Councillor Sean Carey, who launched the initiative at Castlebar Library, emphasised the importance of biodiversity throughout the county: “Biodiversity Week reminds us - year on year - that the natural world is not something we’re separate from. It is not something we visit on holidays or admire from a distance. It is the living fabric of the county we call home. And in Mayo, we are extraordinarily fortunate in what that fabric contains.”
The launch also included a series of short talks from NPWS conservation ranger Brian Hughes on Lapwing conservation in Shrule Turlough, Lynda Huxley of Swift Conservation Mayo on the efforts to conserve the swift across the county, ecologist Jackie Hunt of LIFE on Machair on conservation works in north-west Mayo for waders, and Graham Cawdell of Birdwatch Mayo, on the range of activities the group run to explore and celebrate birdlife.
The birdwatching kit is a partnership between Mayo County Council’s Biodiversity Office and Mayo County Library. It is funded through the Local Biodiversity Action Fund which is administered by the National Parks and Wild Service.