Kildare bog home to 21 of Ireland's 28(ish) butterfly species

Lullymore West Bog in Co. Kildare is being conserved by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council for its incredible diversity of butterflies. According to the IPCC:

"With 21 out of the 28 Irish resident breeding butterfly species finding refuge here, including the endangered Marsh Fritillary, this fragile wetland habitat is exceptional in Ireland... The remoteness of the bog is a double-edged sword. On the one hand it's fantastic for wildlife watching, but on the other it allows unscrupulous people to undertake anti-social activities at our bog, such as dumping, quad biking and tree felling."

In response the IPCC have developed a management plan to guide activities at the 4.5 hectare site for the next five years (to 2012). Plans include

• providing fencing, information signs and visitor guidance;
• carrying out habitat and species mapping and
• setting up a long term butterfly transect to enable ongoing monitoring.

You can find out more, see photos and donate to the Lullymore West project.

Other sources indicate that there are actually closer to 31 species of butterfly in Ireland.

2020 Vision: Protecting and Improving Ireland’s Environment

This month the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have published and sought public comment on the draft strategy 2020 Vision: Protecting and Improving Ireland’s Environment (Word, 37 pages, 781 KB). According to Dr Mary Kelly, Director General, EPA:

"We need to know what environmental priorities the public would like to see addressed, and what steps might be taken to address them"

The draft strategy identifies six main environmental issues:

• Clean Air
• Clean & Plentiful Water Resources
• Protected Soil & Biodiversity
• Sustainable Use of Natural Resources (waste management)
• Limiting & Adapting to Climate Change
• Integration & Enforcement

Protecting and enhancing Dublin City's natural environment

The role of the Dublin City Heritage Office is to "protect and enhance the status and perception of Dublin City’s natural and man made heritage". This is being done through the implementation of the Dublin City Heritage Plan 2002-2006 (PDF, 28 pages, 4 MB).

As the natural environment is included in the Heritage Office's remit they have produced some associated leaflets:

• Conserving Bats Leaflet (PDF, 4 pages, 412 KB)
  Outlines the importance of bats, the threats that they face and methods of conservation
• Hedgerows Leaflet (PDF, 4 pages, 1.6 MB)
  Outlines the value of hedgerows, the threats that they face and how they can be properly maintained
• Natural Heritage Surveys (PDF, 64 pages, 3 MB)
  A register of all known studies of the natural environment in the city area, both published and unpublished.