Council may sign up to pollinator rescue plan this year

Cavan County Council may well be set to sign up as a partner organisation to a plan aimed at safeguarding our under threat pollinator populations.

Amongst a number of recommendations expected to be submitted for the approval of the council’s committee overseeing biodiversity policy is for the local authority to register as a partner organisation to the All Ireland Pollinator Plan by the end of this year.

The development is included in draft pollinator guidelines authored by Cavan County Council heritage officer.

The absence of County Cavan as a partner organisation from the current plan was flagged to the Celt by Simon O’Connor, a local man who is passionate about environmental matters.

“Why are the council not already signed up to the Pollinator Plan since it has been in place from 2015, and I notice that our neighbours Monaghan are already signed up – what’s the difference?

“It’s critical that everyone gets on board – all of the councils spend the public’s money on these issues, which are vitally important,” says Simon who is an accountant, but studied environmental science.

Juanita Browne of the National Biodiversity Data Centre, welcomed the progress, acknowledging that it takes time to go through council.

She noted that of the 42 councils on the island – 11 in the north; 31 in the south – 29 have signed up as partner organisations.

“We didn’t go looking for them,” explained Juanita of the way councils and other groups have embraced the plan.

“The heritage officer network and biodiversity officers in councils all over the island have really engaged with it and promoted it with their own council and Tidy Town groups,” she said, noting Killeshandra Tidy Towns had won regional awards for Pollinator Actions in 2016 and 2018.

Juanita, who is a project officer with the plan, explains that they encourage councils, the public and farmers to embrace the actions that are suitable for their area. She notes they have come under criticism for not being “stronger” on pesticides in the plan: “If we were to say, to be a partner, you can not use it [pesticides], that would go against good biodiversity practice, which is to get rid of Japanese Knotweed.

“While we would never say you have to eliminate all use, however a lot of councils are moving towards reducing it hugely. For instance Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council are leading the way in the south, they have greatly reduced their reliance on chemical pesticides,” she said, noting they have invested in a ‘hot foam machine’ and a ‘steam machine’ for weed management.

“For the staff as well, it’s safer for them to use these alternatives, compared to spraying glyphosate,” she adds.

Januaita stresses that tackling this issue is of critical importance:

“In Ireland we have been monitoring pollinators and since the 1980s scientists have recorded declines in about half of our 99 different bee species,” says Juanita.

“One third of those 98 wild bee species [excluding honey bees] are at risk of extinction,” she says noting the problem lies in both loss of nectar rich sources and habitat loss.

Will the Pollinator Plan be enough to stop this decline?

“We hope so,” she says. “Because the pollinator plan has been going for five years, people such as the Tidy Towns groups want to know if we are seeing an increase in pollinators.

“But the problem is that it will be so gradual because it is also coinciding with intensification of agriculture – there are hedgerows still being ripped out for instance and flowering hedgerows are really important. If bees could tell us what to do, they would say, can we have more wild flower meadows, like the old hay meadows, including lawns – and if we can allow our hedgerows to flower.”

Responding to a query from The Anglo-Celt, a spokesperson for Cavan County Council explained: “The Heritage Office of Cavan County Council has produced draft pollinator guidelines for the local authority, and among the actions outlined in the document is Cavan County Council signing up as a partner organisation under the National Pollinator Plan.

“It is hoped the guidelines will be finalised and brought before the council’s Climate, Biodiversity Action, and Environment Strategic Policy Committee for approval before the year’s end.”