Dublin’s International Day for Biodiversity
If humanity is to survive in a world that is safe and able to care for future generations we have to consider biological diversity as an important step towards this goal. The UN has asked the people of the world to focus on biodiversity this year and to get closer to nature; this union is to encourage future developments that can sustain present and future generations.
Dublin took part in this project on the 22nd May, 2015 and celebrated International Day for Biodiversity with walks and talks in Parks around the city and extended this celebration to include the whole weekend. There were guided boat cruises for those who love tree and bird watching on Dublin Port, a nature walk on the banks of the River Dodder and for the smaller children walks and talks on nature in city parks, and nature based games that included tree climbing, sand castle building and animal petting.
Dublin City Council’s Parks and Landscape Services, who tends to many of the parks in the city and surrounding areas, met at Pearse Street Library on Friday the 22nd to do a talk on Biodiversity, and in Harold Cross Park there was a natural play session held for small children, supported by the children’s charity, OWLS. At Harold’s Cross, children were given the opportunity to jump across logs, climbing over trees and play in natural ways in the park. Dollymount Strand joined the celebrations with a display of interactive marine wildlife and co-hosted the day with the Annual Battle for the Bay Kite surfing Competition.
A Live Sea Creatures and Seashell Search were held on Sunday the 24th at Dollymount Strand and North Bull Island. Visitors were given the chance to touch and feel real sea creatures at the Marine Dimensions touch pool and Coastwatch marine biologists were running seashell searches, getting shell lovers to fight it out for the prize of biggest sea shell collector of the day.
What is biodiversity and what are we do if we want to make it work for our future? Biodiversity provides cities with many ecological services, but we also depend on biodiversity for the mundane necessities that we need to survive. These necessities include clean water, food, sustainable livelihoods and human health. Climate changes causes problems in nature, like flooding and drought, and biodiversity can teach us how to cope with this and restore nature as far as we able for it. Solutions to these natural disasters are not impossible and in cities a lot of work is put into restoring natural environments. Wetlands can stop flooding, provide surface runoff and generate water for supply.
Parks are open spaces that attract bird life that are essential for crop production, species like the house sparrow and sea gull are at risk of out at sea and in the countryside where food sources are scarce; they find their way to parks and join other pollinators.
It is always good to re-familiar oneself with nature in order to understand the importance of how we as a people need to live with nature in harmony and there are many things you can do to put this in practice and make it a part of your lifestyle. Green spaces, parks and greens, are places where families and children can go to play and relax and it promotes good health. North Bull Island has been named a UNESCO Biosphere and this is the perfect place to visit and spend time at. Here you can see nature and people unite together in relationship and union.
Enjoy Dublin’s diverse selection of natural parks and activities this year and make a point of getting to know our other neighbours, we are all here sharing the same planet and are dependent on one another for a future where we will be fed, nurtured and be allowed to extend our families. Stay kind to nature!
