GAP Celebrate Park Stewardship Programme’s 1st Year
To celebrate the first year of the Park Stewardship Programme in Ballymun Global Action Plan Ireland hosted an awards event in St. Joseph’s Senior National School. The third class pupils in St. Joseph’s National School have successfully completed this new programme, and have greatly enhanced their local Balcurris park. Councillor Bill Tormey officiated the event, and made a speech about the importance of parks to local communities, and celebrated the biodiversity and community culture associated with parks in Ballymun. The 3rd class pupils were awarded certificates, and the art-work they created in Balcurris during the project was exhibited, along with photographs of their work throughout the project.
Global Action Plan Ireland launched the exciting new initiative, the Park Stewardship programme, this year, which engages local national schools in positive engagement with their local parks. The aim of this programme is to engage local young people in supporting the long-term care and protection of local parks in Ballymun. The programme (funded by Ballymun Regeneration Limited) focused this year on Coultry, Poppintree and Balcurris parks in conjunction with Gaelscoil Ballymunna, Holy Spirit Girls and St. Josephs Senior National Schools in Ballymun.
Activities include planting native Irish trees, summer and winter bulbs, and creating butterfly gardens in the parks. Actively engaging young people in Ballymun in the creation and maintenance of biodiversity in their parks is a central aim of this programme.
Other activities include creating art in the park out of biodegradable materials, which allows the participants to creatively engage with public spaces in Ballymun.
Throughout the project we will also linked with other community stakeholders, for example the Tidy Towns Committee and the local community Gardai. Educational nature trails and species identification also form an important part of the programme, as well as examining and enjoying biodiversity in other parks and gardens such as Santry Forrest.
This programme encourages respect and ownership of the parks, as well as a knowledge and understanding of the biodiversity that exists in the parks in Ballymun.
