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Welcome to the Dublin Bay Biosphere Ezine
In this edition we take a look at some of the new Biosphere's to join the biosphere network, a new initiative with Scouting Ireland, ECO-UNESCO's Climate Justice week, the value of city woodlands, cycling infrastructure, North Bull Island Nature Reserve, an ancient tale of murder and mutiny, iconic images of Dublin Bay, the naked truth about beach cleaning, citizen scientists and volunteering opportunities and corporate team building events.
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UNESCO Welcome 25 new Biosphere's
North Bull Island was one of UNESCO's earliest Biosphere's, joining a growing network of nature reserves whose aim is to improve conservation management for the benefit of people and nature in coexisting in harmony.
On the 28th October 25 New sites were added to the UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme including one transboundary biosphere. The World Network of Biosphere Reserves now numbers 714 and are found in 129 countries around the globe.
Andorra, Cabo Verde, Comoros, Luxemburg and Trinidad and Tobago join the MAB Network this year with the designation of their first sites: Ordino Biosphere Reserve, Fogo and Maio Biosphere Reserves, Mwali Biosphere Reserve, Minett Biosphere Reserve and North-East Tobago Biosphere Reserve respectively.
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Badge of Distinction
The Biosphere is keen to engage with young people, as many young people have a passion for the environment and can be the driving force behind meaningful change, take Greta Thunberg for example, her Climate Strike movement has resonated across the globe and ignited import conversations, whilst local beach clean activist Flossie is doing wonders for tackling litter pollution.
We're delighted to announce a partnership with Scouting Ireland, one of the largest youth movements in the world, to offer young people the chance to earn a Dublin Bay Biosphere badge for actions which help protect our special biosphere. Although this is a scouting initiative the scheme is open to schools and clubs that want to get involved.
The programme will officially launch early in the year to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO's Man and Biosphere Programme, but we're so excited by this opportunity we wanted to share it with you now!
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ECO-UNESCO Climate Justice Week
Continuing the theme of youth engagement our friends at ECO-UNESCO are inviting young people from across Ireland to join them for a series of free online events that explore the topic of CLIMATE JUSTICE.
Events run between Monday 30th November and Saturday 5th December. All events and activities are designed to give young people the knowledge and the skills they need to feel empowered to stand up, be heard, and create change.
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Image courtesy of Anthony Woods
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A Short Guide to Three Dublin City Woodlands
Dublin City Council has produced a guide on three important Dublin woodlands, Bushy Park which sit's beside the River Dodder and Tolka Valley Park which sits alongside the Tolka river. Both woodlands provide essential cleansing services to these rivers as they flow towards Dublin Bay. In addition St. Anne's Park sits within the biosphere and provides a host of essential services, such as clean air, recreation space.
This project has been supported by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage under the National Biodiversity Action plan (2017-2021), and Dublin City Council’s Parks, Biodiversity and Landscape Services. It is also an action of the Dublin City Biodiversity Action Plan (2016-2020) and the Dublin City Tree Strategy (2016-2021).
To learn more visit our link below.
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Dublin Bay Greenway
It's been referred to as the S2S, the East Coast Trail and the Dublin Bay Greenway, a continuous seafront promenade and cycleway stretching from Sutton to Sandycove. First proposed in 2004 the greenway has encountered challenges which have led to the delay in completion of parts of the route.
Biosphere partner, the Dublin Port Company recently announced plans to complete a significant missing link with the development of a 1.4km section of the route from the Tolka River estuaray to the Liffey Quayside.
Please check out the Journal and Irish Times articles to learn more.
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Viola tricolour by Pat Corrigan
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North Bull Island Nature Reserve
North Bull Island was Ireland’s first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (designated in 1981) – a low-lying sandy spit, nestled along the northern edge of Dublin Bay, with Dollymount Strand on one side, and salt-marsh and mudflats on the other. Today, it’s at the core of a new Biosphere – Dublin Bay.
Please click the link below to learn more about this fascinating nature reserve.
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Wooden Bridge at Clontarf
The wooden bridge at Clontarf is a famous landmark and access to the North Bull Island Nature Reserve. It actually forms part of the port wall which was constructed over 200 years ago and from which the island evolved. In response to requests to consider making the north bull wall safer for cyclists and pedestrians plans are in hand to install bollards to protect the footpath for pedestrians which in turn will deter vehicles from speeding to make it safer for cyclists. Parking spaces for people with disabilities will also be provided near the Happy Out café and there will be provision for bicycle parking. This work will be proceeding in the next number of weeks.
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Murder, Mutiny and the Muglins
The Muglins is a small jagged rock near the town of Dalkey and forms part of our biosphere. So how did it come to feature in a tale of murder, mutiny and mayhem!?
Local man Des Burke-Kennedy tells the story of Captain George Glass, his wife Catherine and their eleven year-old daughter and their involvement in a tale that for many may seem like a work of fiction, but is in fact a true story. A written confession made the night before a criminal was hanged, revealed key facts.
There is some evidence to suggest that R.S. Stevenson based his novel ‘Treasure Island’ on elements of this grisly tale!
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Iconic Views of Dublin Bay
These stunning images are part of a collection commissioned by biosphere partner Fáilte Ireland to capture images of our biosphere as viewed from rail or Dart. These iconic scenes are all within the biosphere and are within 30 minutes of Dublin City Centre.
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Naked Truth About Litter
Local Beach Cleaning wizard and litter activist Flossie Donnelly and an army of friends and supporters have come together to produce a brilliant, if a little cheeky, calendar for 2021. The idea for the calendar is to make people smile in these crazy times and remind them that whilst the Corona Virus is here, we can still appreciate the beauty of where we live whilst cleaning the planet.
Every model featured in the calendar is wearing a piece of rubbish/pollution collected by Flossie and her friends during their clean-ups.
The proceeds of the calendar go to the Flossie and The Beach Cleaners charity so that they can continue their school workshop education programme and continue to clean the oceans and seas of plastic pollution.
To learn more about Flossie and to order a copy see the link to Flossie’s website below.
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Citizen Science Volunteering Opportunities
Citizen Scientists are not a new phenomenon, in fact the world renowned botanist Charles Darwin enlisted an army of volunteers to provide observations when developing his theory of Natural Selection and the publication of his book The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. So what is Citizen Science and how can you get involved?
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Social Influencers
We're in the process of recruiting four Social Influencers. This is an unpaid voluntary role which offers our volunteers the chance to share their passion for the biosphere. Our social influencers are tasked with writing articles which showcase the positive impacts of our biosphere and sharing the biosphere with a wider audience.
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Business Focus - Red Squirrel Company
Red Squirrel run team building treasure hunts in beautiful locations for the corporate and incentive travel sectors. One of their favourite locations for a treasure hunt is on Killiney Hill, part of the UNESCO Dublin Bay Biosphere.
These socially distant events encourages teams to work together to solve puzzles, decode clues and complete tricky tasks while taking in the breath-taking 360 degree views of UNESCO Dublin Bay Biosphere and beyond.
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We hope you enjoyed this edition of the Ezine
Should you wish to contact us please email info@dublinbaybiosphere.ie
Thanks for reading!
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