12/06/2015

Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.

Biodiversity Study of the Roselawn Estate Roadside in Lucan

The Irish Wildlife Trust has teamed up with Lucan Tidy Towns to record the levels of biodiversity along a selected stretch of roadside in Lucan. This project is funded under the Local Agenda 21 Environmental Partnership Fund 2014 and South Dublin County Council.

Lucan Tidy Towns along with the Irish Wildlife Trust have completed a survey of the roadsides in Lucan and have chosen the area directly opposite the entrance to Roselawn Estate, as their sample area, please see attached map. This roadside will be left uncut for the summer months in order for the group to study the biodiversity of the roadside and to develop biodiversity friendly management regimes.

This project aims to educate community groups of the wildlife value of roadsides. Groups will learn basic flora and fauna identifications skills, complete surveys and develop roadside management plans.

Roadsides in Ireland provide a vital refuge for biodiversity but are often undervalued and have varying levels of management which can have both negative and positive impacts on the level of biodiversity.

This project aims to demonstrate that small local initiatives can make a big difference (for example, reverse the decline in pollinators), create local community ownership of roadsides, plan and manage the roadsides in a sustainable manner in partnership with South Dublin County Council and increase biodiversity in the area, which in turn benefits the quality of life of the whole community.