Wildflower patch. (Image from Irish Wildlife Trust website)

Biodiversity champion Pat wins award

PAT Fahy of Westport Tidy Towns has been named Local Biodiversity Champion in the Irish Wildlife Trust Biodiversity Awards.

Two other Westport projects were in the running for awards in other categories - the bog garden project on the Newport Road and the Edible Landscape's edible planting for biodiversity project were also shortlisted, with the public voting for their favourite projects.

The Together for Biodiversity Awards are part of the National Biodiversity Conference, which takes place at Dublin Castle on February 20 and 21. The overall award winner will be announced at the conference.

The Irish Wildlife Trust website reports how on behalf of Westport Tidy Towns, Pat took on the oversight of a project to create a wildflower garden and wildlife pond on the Newport Road as well as promoting pollination and propagation projects.

He is rapidly becoming the 'go to person' for all information on biodiversity issues and has become the voice of conscience in Westport.

Pat took what was previously just an area of marshy grassland with little benefit to our dwindling bees and butterflies and with the help of local volunteers has turned it into an area that hosts 21 'wild cherry' trees (which like the dandelion are essential for our bumblebees emerging from hibernation), and used 50 species of wildflower seed from the locality and various transplants from CPO land.

Being marshy it also has a natural wildlife pond, a much needed habitat for frogs, newts and other aquatic species.

The idea was born from the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan 2015-2020 and the knowledge that in the long term, native and locally collected wildflower species are the most sustainable way to create a wildflower garden with the innate characteristic that every year it will improve with time.

The positive biodiversity impact of the work saw numerous dormant species emerge, such as redshank, silverweed, spear thistle, water figwort, hog weed, and many more.

Patck also used the wildflower garden to springboard a wildlife pond competition and as a result, two established ponds were identified in the same locality.

He is now encouraging others to develop wildlife ponds in suitable areas.

 

(For full details on the winning project see https://iwt.ie/biodiversity-awards/vote-champion/