World Environment Day
The theme for this year’s World Environment day is Ecosystem Restoration, and one of the things Green Sod Ireland loves most in the world is ecosystem restoration! In fact it’s one of our main aims as a land trust charity – to protect, preserve, and restore the wild acres of Ireland.
To celebrate the wonder of biodiversity, and hopefully encourage more people to become involved in the protection and restoration of our natural environment we have organised a series of online events, all of which we hope will help us better understand what biodiversity is, where it exists and what we can do to help it thrive.
WILD ACRES WEEK, which started today – World Environment Day – includes talks, workshops and a citizen science youth panel discussion. These events not only celebrate our natural biodiversity, they also highlight a number of wonderful project and research initiatives happening across Ireland and the globe.
Biodiversity has many definitions and in simple terms refers to all forms of life on earth including mammals, plants, fungi and microorganisms. So that includes us, our pets and all of the wildlife in the world, no matter how big or small.
Todays workshops include:
The Art of Field Notes with ecological artist Ashleigh Downey (Environmental Arts co-ordinator, GSI) which offers a discursive presentation on the role of field notebooks, and an exploration into how anyone (of any age or ability) can start to use this practice as a way to learn more about the world around us.
Wild Bees of Ireland with Janet Laffey (Ecology co-ordinator, GSI) offers a beginners guide to Bumblebee identification. This workshop will also raise awareness of the importance of wild bees as pollinators, and how we can help protect them.
Wild Postcard Project with artists and biodiversity experts Eileen Diskin & Angela Stevenson. This is a hands-on guided art workshop where you’ll explore biodiversity from every perspectives (microscopic to whole ecosystems!) www.wildpostcardproject.com
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- The Art of Field Notes
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- Wild Bees of Ireland with Janet Laffey
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- The Wild Postcard Project
For the next week (5th-12th June) Green Sod Ireland will be talking to guest speakers such as scientists, artists, environmentalists, and other concerned citizens to further help us understand what biodiversity is, where it exists and what we can do to help it thrive. We will discuss biodiversity in Ireland and beyond, and find out how this is relevant to ecosystem restoration.
We will also be looking at how together we can help sustain earth’s natural biodiversity. In this era of climate change and uncertainty we are inviting specialists to discuss their knowledge of biodiversity and to help us understand more about what role we play in it so that we can learn more about the world around us.
We hope you will join us for WILD ACRES WEEK. For more information & booking details click here.
Wild Acres Week is a project collaboration between Ashleigh Downey (Green Sod Ireland’s Environmental Arts co-ordinator) and Michelle Tighe (Green Sod Ireland Volunteer). This community focused initiative is kindly supported by Rethink Ireland.
The Peace of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Feature photo by The Tampa Bay Estuary Program (a catalyst for restoration)
