Timeline of Action Plan Development by

6th February 2020 Familiarisation visit

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-04 12:46:56 UTC

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.

3rd March 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-04 12:50:28 UTC

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

Lockdown hiatus March -July 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-04 13:02:23 UTC

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.

30 July 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-04 13:11:30 UTC

Back page of Baltimore & the Isles Newsletter updates the Community

22nd July 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-04 13:18:22 UTC

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

24th July 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-04 13:22:06 UTC

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

28th August 2020; first fieldwork day.

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-04 13:29:46 UTC

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!

3rd September 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-04 13:35:10 UTC

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

Summer 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-06 06:55:01 UTC

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

Summer 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-06 07:06:08 UTC

One Green Village, Baltimore & the Isles on board

19th August 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-06 07:11:28 UTC

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

10th & 11th September 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-06 07:18:24 UTC

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

28th June 2019

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-06 07:29:09 UTC

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/

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-06 07:35:29 UTC

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

16th January 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-06 07:53:48 UTC

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

18th September 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-06 16:19:46 UTC

Volunteer catchup meeting over coffee

21st August 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-06 16:21:35 UTC

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.

25th September 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-06 16:32:58 UTC

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

29th September 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-06 16:38:20 UTC

First upload to our picture gallery padlet from a non administrator

3rd October 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-06 17:00:09 UTC

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.

13th October 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-13 14:27:08 UTC

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.

28th October 2020 Good News!

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-28 09:37:37 UTC

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.

30th October 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-10-30 18:10:21 UTC

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)

18th November

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-11-17 20:38:26 UTC

Rath NS Autumn garden surveys collated

28th October

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-11-17 20:41:28 UTC

Baltimore Area garden surveys collated

December 2020

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-12-13 05:36:38 UTC

Christmas Competitions

15th December

anchuinnebaltimore — 2020-12-15 16:29:06 UTC

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

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-01-11 05:42:46 UTC

10th January 2021

Jan 2021

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-01-30 07:31:58 UTC

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

Frog Survey1: frogspawn

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-01-30 07:34:02 UTC

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

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-02-09 22:00:32 UTC

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.

Frog Survey 2: tadpoles!

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-03-13 17:44:01 UTC

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

BABAP update in the Community Newsletter

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-03-14 08:20:35 UTC

December 2020

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-04-10 10:27:45 UTC

BABAP update for Village Notice Board 20th April

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-04-20 04:57:05 UTC

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

18th April Baltimore Village & Environs Big Cleanup

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-04-20 04:57:34 UTC

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

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-05-11 10:14:56 UTC

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

Staring at Walls

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-05-15 03:03:33 UTC

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

first Action Plan video ready June 2021

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-07-09 11:36:16 UTC

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

June 2021 Just some of the successful Rath NS wall surveyors

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-10-20 09:23:36 UTC

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-10-20 09:42:03 UTC

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

22nd September, Second Sustainable Communities workshop - Biodiversity

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-11-10 05:10:32 UTC

These slides formed the basis of the workshop

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!

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-11-17 08:37:33 UTC

22nd November, Rath NS Holly Competition launched today

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-11-23 08:25:49 UTC

Closing date 10th December.

25th November; update in the Community Newsletter

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-11-25 09:52:59 UTC

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-11-25 09:57:58 UTC

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

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-11-27 15:28:02 UTC

+ 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

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2021-12-16 13:44:12 UTC

Thanks to all who took part 💚👏💚

8th February 2022 Launch of the Great Big Pond Survey

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-02-09 09:34:24 UTC

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!)

MARCH 2022 BALTIMORE AREA BIODIVERSITY ACTION PLAN PUBLISHED

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-04-06 16:55:04 UTC

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

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-04-12 06:51:55 UTC

mighty effort, well done and thankyou to all!

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-04-12 06:54:37 UTC

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

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-04-12 07:00:28 UTC

very exciting summer training ahead!

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-06-04 12:45:45 UTC

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-06-04 16:32:52 UTC

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-06-04 16:47:49 UTC

Two herds meet!

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-06-23 16:46:17 UTC

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

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-07-07 18:09:11 UTC

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

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!)

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-07-16 13:47:38 UTC

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

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-07-16 13:49:09 UTC

Gorgeous!

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-07-25 17:18:43 UTC

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

Great collaboration between group members! July 2022

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-07-26 20:05:18 UTC

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!

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-10-10 16:48:25 UTC

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

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!)

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-10-10 16:54:23 UTC

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

Biodiversity & Sustainability cannot be separated

anchuinnebaltimore — 2022-12-06 16:02:46 UTC

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-02-14 12:34:41 UTC

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

9th January: Thankyou, Community Foundation of Ireland

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-04-17 11:51:25 UTC

For extending the time on our implementation project

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-04-17 11:54:02 UTC

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

16th April: annual Big Community Cleanup

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-04-17 11:55:53 UTC

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

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-04-17 12:15:09 UTC

thankyou Karen!

June 2023: Biodiversity article for the Community Newsletter

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-05-03 08:03:31 UTC

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-06-29 17:37:19 UTC

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

3rd June: BioD group visit to Glebe Gardens

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-06-29 17:39:32 UTC

Wonderful rewilding project

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-06-29 18:07:58 UTC

Jenny got this great shot of a Ringlet butterfly!

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-10-09 14:59:44 UTC

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

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-11-01 12:33:36 UTC

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

October 2023

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-11-16 10:03:46 UTC

Planning further development of the Action Plan

November 2023

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-11-16 10:06:19 UTC

Article for the Christmas Newsletter

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-11-16 10:09:08 UTC

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

August 2023: Jean’s beautiful heritage tomatoes

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-11-16 10:58:43 UTC

Available in season at the Sunday Community Market

September 2023

anchuinnebaltimore — 2023-11-16 11:02:27 UTC

Muriel’s wonderful variety of plants

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

anchuinnebaltimore — 2024-04-24 08:38:50 UTC

This is one of the survey sheets used in the project

April 2024; Rath NS survey results

anchuinnebaltimore — 2024-04-24 08:39:57 UTC