Mayo schools to avail of education programme on bog habitats

THE Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, has launched a new primary school programme designed to educate children on the environmental and economic advantages of our blanket bogs.

The programme, which was developed by the Heritage Council as part of LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature, is being rolled out to schools in Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Sligo and Leitrim from September following the successful completion of a pilot phase.

LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature is an EU-funded environmental project aiming to improve Ireland’s performance in conserving habitats and in particular improving the quality of our blanket bogs, focusing primarily on the blanket bogs in the northwest of the country. It is coordinated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service via the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage with nine additional partners including the Heritage Council and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

The education programme aspect of the project takes children on a journey through the wonders of bog habitat, learning about how the bogs can control floods, provide clean drinking water and high-quality food, support biodiversity and help tackle climate change by storing millions of tonnes of carbon.

As our future farmers, children are learning how to actively manage habitats through sustainable farm practices.

The learning begins in the classroom, where pupils learn about the key plants and bog habitat and how to use the habitat assessment scorecard developed with DAFM as part of Wild Atlantic Nature Results-Based agri-environmental Payment Scheme (RBPS).

A subsequent field trip to a local bog is organised where a bog plant identification swatch is used to observe whether the plants found are positive or negative indicators of the condition of a bog. Back in class, the scores are calculated to determine if their local blanket bog was considered healthy or if it required a helping hand from farmers and the local community to improve its condition.

The final phase of the programme involves a follow-up project designed to consolidates the pupils’ learning.

The education programme was developed by the Irish Peatlands Conservation Council (IPCC) and NatureNorthWest, and will be delivered by heritage specialists from the Heritage Council’s Heritage in Schools Scheme.

Project manager of LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature, Dr. Derek McLoughlin, said: “LIFE IP Wild Atlantic Nature aims to develop and test long-term solutions related to nature, agriculture and climate in a way that works for everyone in the local community. We strongly depend on landowners to manage the land in a sustainable way and to deliver the goods and services that the public want and need.

“As the next generation of farmers emerge, it is important that they can carry on the farming traditions in these important areas, and build on existing knowledge and experience that landowners have. For this to happen, we must ensure coherent messages on the use of land and develop appropriate policy to deliver good social and environmental outcomes in a way that can support farmers’ livelihoods.”