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BTT applied for a grant in order to be able to get professional help to carry out a biodiversity survey of the Baltimore area and produce a community action plan so that we, as a community, can:
a: properly understand and enjoy the amazing biodiversity we have here
b: spread the word about how better to protect the variety of habitats and species that we have
c: learn how better to develop that biodiversity for our own and our children's futures https://www.facebook.com/Baltimore-Tidy-Towns-129459847094366/

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'We stand for a fair, caring and vibrant Ireland for now and the future'                                                                                                             27th August 2019       

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'We stand for a fair, caring and vibrant Ireland for now and the future'                                                                                                             27th August 2019       

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Grant awarded! Work to begin Spring 2020   https://www.communityfoundation.ie/

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Ecologist on board! William O'Halloran of WildWork. http://www.wildwork.ie/

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Our ecologist, William met with BTT reps in Baltimore for the first time. Toured the village and met three of the 5 landowners already bought into the project.

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Two BTT reps attended a Wild Work event in Cork; useful networking and rich source of ideas.

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William was unable to begin fieldwork but some desktop research was done and TT reps used WhatsApp and the Community newsletter to increase community awareness of and involvement in the programme.

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Community Council on board
https://www.baltimore.ie/community-council

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One Green Village, Baltimore & the Isles on board

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With the Head, (who is fully bought into this) draft planning was done for family garden surveys to begin in September.
https://rathnationalschool.com/

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Zoom meeting; BTT and William agree the way forward post lockdown

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Back page of Baltimore & the Isles Newsletter updates the Community

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First of our padlets created so that we can gather together and keep together all of our information, plans and ideas and share them with the whole community
https://padlet.com/anchuinnebaltimore/v4xgkm750zgog1pl

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Fieldwork postponed due to weather but 4 volunteers met to discuss issues. Species ID sheets (with detail required by the National Biodiversity Centre) agreed on - sort of interim level between the garden surveys and the professional work. 6 volunteers already happy to be involved.

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Four volunteers met William. We did a tour of key areas in the village and visited two farms. Lots of videos, interviews and 9 action points for the Plan already!

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Full fieldwork day for William and Siobhan and a catch up with BTT over lunch

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Another 2 full days mapping habitats - amid stunning scenery! Lunch time catch up with BTT

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Volunteer catchup meeting over coffee

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Habitat mapping. Siobhan made a new friend (above) and two volunteers joined William and Siobhan for part of the day. It was fabulous!

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First upload to our picture gallery padlet from a non administrator

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Three volunteers took part in the annual Coastwatch survey, covering 4 units (2k) of shoreline around Baltimore. W e have agreed that getting more people involved with Coastwatch should be an action point in the  Plan.

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Rath NS families' garden surveys results collated and new padlet created to display them all. Click on the link in the document above to see them all.

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Baltimore Area garden surveys collated

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We are in level 5 restrictions but government has confirmed that work to conserve habitats of protected species is essential work. So fieldwork can continue on those of our farms that lie within SAC and SPA areas. A phonecall between William and BTT clarified details. Wildwork, BTT and the farmers concerned are all happy with this.

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William began mapping two more farms and we had some practice for the videos we are producing!! (education also being an essential service even in level 5)

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Rath NS Autumn garden surveys collated

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Christmas Competitions

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William's last day habitat mapping and he timed it well between tides and rainshowers! Rainshower at lunch and a lovely rainbow!

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BABAP update in the Community Newsletter

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BABAP update in the Community Newsletter

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December 2020

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Ivy Competition Results: we had 23 fantastic entries! All winning entries can be found by following the link in the document

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Ivy Competition Results: we had 23 fantastic entries! All winning entries can be found by following the link in the document

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10th January 2021

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New photo gallery padlet created for this new year - take a look!

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1st Feb 2021 - to be completed by 15th Feb

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15th Feb: Frogspawn surveys are in. It is a bumper year for frogspawn here! Thankyou all for taking part! 🐸🐸💚💚

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15th Feb: Frogspawn surveys are in. It is a bumper year for frogspawn here! Thankyou all for taking part! 🐸🐸💚💚

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Fantastic work done - proper citizen science - dates and places recorded and lots of photos. Surveys and answers, comments can be found by clicking on the picture.

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5th March 2021 - to be completed by 22nd march

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29th March: tadpole surveys in. Thanks to all those families who took part. Some great videos too - and a fantastic drawing by Emma!

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29th March: tadpole surveys in. Thanks to all those families who took part. Some great videos too - and a fantastic drawing by Emma!

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18th April Baltimore Village & Environs Big Cleanup

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18th April Baltimore Village & Environs Big Cleanup

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A massively successful cross community action to clear rubbish from verges, fields, streams and beaches; they should be clean habitats for our wildlife! More photos here: https://padlet.com/anchuinnebaltimore/y0e14k5x94quwe80

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BABAP update for Village Notice Board 20th April

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BABAP update for Village Notice Board 20th April

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Community Newsletter delayed so public update posted on board opposite St Matthews.

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Rath NS Lifecyle of a Frog Poster Competition, early May 2021

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Rath NS Lifecyle of a Frog Poster Competition, early May 2021

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We had loads of great entries - thankyou all. Some great info and wonderful creativity.

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Our late May survey - looking at the flora and fauna that love living on walls. Results are in! You can see all the completed surveys here: https://padlet.com/anchuinnebaltimore/sp6ir2syoz9s32sg
and you can see more photos of lovely Baltimore walls here:
https://padlet.com/anchuinnebaltimore/qbve5w0wxkj5xodt

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had to work hard to reduce the wind noise without losing speech.

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Baltimore -  less wind (but still some wind sounds)

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Thanks to everyone for their hard work and great surveys. Enjoy the well earned summer break!

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June 2021 Just some of the successful Rath NS wall surveyors

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June 2021 Just some of the successful Rath NS wall surveyors

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July 2021, Baltimore accepted onto Voice Ireland's Sustainable Communities Training Programme

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July 2021, Baltimore accepted onto Voice Ireland's Sustainable Communities Training Programme

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We will tie together our BABAP and Sustainable Community Roadmap - it makes sense!

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The Sustainable Communities Training Programme poster - Baltimore (1)

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22nd September, Second Sustainable Communities workshop - Biodiversity

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22nd September, Second Sustainable Communities workshop - Biodiversity

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These slides formed the basis of the workshop

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Oct/Nov 2021, Draft Biodiversity Action Plan being subedited & the list of Action Points agreed by all concerned. Not for publication yet - but we can post, proudly, one of the ecologist's comments!

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Oct/Nov 2021, Draft Biodiversity Action Plan being subedited & the list of Action Points agreed by all concerned. Not for publication yet - but we can post, proudly, one of the ecologist's comments!

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12th November; applied to the Community Foundation for a further grant to help implement some of the BABAP Action Points

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12th November; applied to the Community Foundation for a further grant to help implement some of the BABAP Action Points

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find more information about their philanthropic work here:
https://www.communityfoundation.ie/about-us/our-vision

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BABAP - some of our agreed action points are already being implemented!

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BABAP - some of our agreed action points are already being implemented!

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+ creation of an online portal to gather and share our biodiversity data - these padlets already are beginning to do this
+ continue to work with Rath NS to gather local biodiversity data, giving pupils the role of citizen scientists - all their surveys are shared within these padlets; each new survey will become a new padlet

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22nd November, Rath NS Holly Competition launched today

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22nd November, Rath NS Holly Competition launched today

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Closing date 10th December.

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25th November; update in the Community Newsletter

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25th November; update in the Community Newsletter

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14th December; Rath NS Holly Competition entries in - all entries (and their doppelgangers!) can be found in the link below

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14th December; Rath NS Holly Competition entries in - all entries (and their doppelgangers!) can be found in the link below

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Thanks to all who took part 💚👏💚

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8th February 2022 Launch of the Great Big Pond Survey

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8th February 2022 Launch of the Great Big Pond Survey

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Those fantastic citizen scientists from Rath NS will be mapping all the ponds in the Baltimore area landscape over the next two months (another Action Point being implemented before the Plan even goes fully public!)

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MARCH 2022 BALTIMORE AREA BIODIVERSITY ACTION PLAN PUBLISHED

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MARCH 2022 BALTIMORE AREA BIODIVERSITY ACTION PLAN PUBLISHED

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Formal launch will wait until weather & covid are more amenable but already several Action Points are being put into practice. Hard copies are available at Cotter's Gala in Baltimore

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Free Biodiversity training by Wildwork@SECAD; Baltimore chosen as one of the centres!

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Free Biodiversity training by Wildwork@SECAD; Baltimore chosen as one of the centres!

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very exciting summer training ahead!

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Introduction to Wild Work West Cork - Wild Work

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During our Introduction to Wild Work programme, you will explore biodiversity in the Irish landscape. Our trainers will bring you into nature to experience West Cork wild spaces first-hand. Here you can learn through seeing, touching and interacting with the natural world.

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8th April: pond surveys in - and every single one had map coordinates which helps hugely!

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8th April: pond surveys in - and every single one had map coordinates which helps hugely!

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mighty effort, well done and thankyou to all!

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Big Community Clean-up April 8th-10th 2022

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Big Community Clean-up April 8th-10th 2022

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A fantastic collective community effort to help clean our environment which helps all flora & fauna

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7th May: first biodiversity training session in Baltimore. Delivered by Amanda - using Gairdín Aiteann in the centre of the village 

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7th May: first biodiversity training session in Baltimore. Delivered by Amanda - using Gairdín Aiteann in the centre of the village 

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21st May; second biodiversity training day at a wonderfully biodiverse local farm

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21st May; second biodiversity training day at a wonderfully biodiverse local farm

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4th June; third biodiversity training session at another wonderful farm

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4th June; third biodiversity training session at another wonderful farm

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Two herds meet!

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…meanwhile, 11th June, Wildwork ecologist Karen came to survey the habitat around the newly rediscovered Ringfort on the outskirts of the village…

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…meanwhile, 11th June, Wildwork ecologist Karen came to survey the habitat around the newly rediscovered Ringfort on the outskirts of the village…

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… it was important that this was done before the GPS survey so that no crucial habitat would be disturbed

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18th June: fourth biodiversity training session at the beautiful Glebe Gardens 

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18th June: fourth biodiversity training session at the beautiful Glebe Gardens 

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Biodiversity and wellness - we had such a happy and relaxing morning

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June 2022: implementation of one more Action Point of our BABAP!

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June 2022: implementation of one more Action Point of our BABAP!

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thankyou Karen!

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June 2023:                                                    Biodiversity article for the Community Newsletter

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June 2023:                                                    Biodiversity article for the Community Newsletter

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2nd July: 5th biodiversity training session on another great farm. We learned about kick-sampling

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2nd July: 5th biodiversity training session on another great farm. We learned about kick-sampling

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Kick sampling is a way of checking how clean the water in a stream is, by looking at the invertebrates who live in it.

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16th July, last training session (but we’ll continue to meet as a group and put into practice what we’ve learned - and we’ll keep learning!)

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16th July, last training session (but we’ll continue to meet as a group and put into practice what we’ve learned - and we’ll keep learning!)

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Great bunch of people and brilliant Wildwork@Secad trainers -THANKYOU!

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16th July, during kick-sampling in training we found elvers!

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16th July, during kick-sampling in training we found elvers!

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Gorgeous!

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The official training sessions are over for now but we have decided we will continue to meet as a group 

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The official training sessions are over for now but we have decided we will continue to meet as a group 

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Amanda asked us to share some thoughts - it was hard in a few words but you can see we loved it!

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Great collaboration between group members! July 2022

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Great collaboration between group members! July 2022

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Robin (an expert bee-keeper) sourced bees for Sylvia (above - a new bee-keeper). It wouldn’t have happened without being part of the Wildwork training group here in Baltimore!

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10th October; a fantastic session with Karen about pollinator monitoring! And she’d spent the morning with Rath NS talking about helping pollinators in the winter (more on this to follow!)

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10th October; a fantastic session with Karen about pollinator monitoring! And she’d spent the morning with Rath NS talking about helping pollinators in the winter (more on this to follow!)

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Check out the FITCount App for one easy, fun and informative method to monitor pollinators.

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Biodiversity & Sustainability cannot be separated 

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Biodiversity & Sustainability cannot be separated 

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January 2023: Baltimore has become a Sustainable Economic Community (SEC)

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January 2023: Baltimore has become a Sustainable Economic Community (SEC)

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to follow our progress - Baltimore into the Future is our brandname - click on the image above

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9th January: Thankyou, Community Foundation of Ireland

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9th January: Thankyou, Community Foundation of Ireland

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For extending the time on our implementation project

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February & March 2023: plans afoot to organise more biodiversity training days in Baltimore this Summer & Autumn

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February & March 2023: plans afoot to organise more biodiversity training days in Baltimore this Summer & Autumn

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…and maybe we’ll see more silver washed fritillaries this year!

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16th April: annual Big Community Cleanup

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16th April: annual Big Community Cleanup

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… creating a cleaner, healthier environment for our wonderfully biodiverse environment

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Second summer of Saturday morning biodiversity training/walks began on 20th May

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Second summer of Saturday morning biodiversity training/walks began on 20th May

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Gorgeous walk through Rossa’s & Nuala’s agroforestry project

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3rd June: BioD group visit to Glebe Gardens

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3rd June: BioD group visit to Glebe Gardens

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Wonderful rewilding project

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24thJune: great walk & plant ID at Rosewood - thankyou Sheryl & Mike

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24thJune: great walk & plant ID at Rosewood - thankyou Sheryl & Mike

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Jenny got this great shot of a Ringlet butterfly!

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23rd July 2023: fabulous walk on Teddy’s farm

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23rd July 2023: fabulous walk on Teddy’s farm

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Huge thanks to Teddy and son James for such an entertaining as well as informative day - brilliant, despite the wind!

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28th July: our ecologist, William of Wildwork@SECAD, completed a flora flush survey on Ger's farm

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28th July: our ecologist, William of Wildwork@SECAD, completed a flora flush survey on Ger's farm

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another Action Plan action point completed! Report will be ready in the Autumn.

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August 2023: Jean’s beautiful heritage tomatoes

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August 2023: Jean’s beautiful heritage tomatoes

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Available in season at the Sunday Community Market

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Muriel’s wonderful variety of plants

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Planning further development of the Action Plan

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Article for the Christmas Newsletter

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18th November: Brown Envelope Seeds sharing their passion for biodiversity & sustainability

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18th November: Brown Envelope Seeds sharing their passion for biodiversity & sustainability

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The chance to learn loads about growing your own food - sustainably and protecting a rich variety of edible species.

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Spring 2024: a Birdwatch Challenge for those brilliant Rath NS citizen scientists

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Spring 2024: a Birdwatch Challenge for those brilliant Rath NS citizen scientists

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This is one of the survey sheets used in the project