Churches and graveyards become biodiversity havens
Church grounds and graveyards are becoming havens for birds, bees and bats in a groundbreaking biodiversity project.
The initiative, which began in Clare in 2023, has now spread to more than 22 Catholic and two Church of Ireland churches in the county – in counties Louth, Wexford, Limerick, Cork, Leitrim and Knock Shrine in Mayo.
The original pilot project, led by Clare County Council’s biodiversity officer Barry O’Loughlin, came about after the Irish Bishops’ Conference agreed that parishes would return 30 per cent of church grounds to nature by 2030.
Driven by the council, which organised rewilding presentations and trained church groundkeepers, it has changed the appearance of church grounds usually managed as manicured land.
I remember seeing a video of how a tightly cut lawn was the equivalent of a desert for creatures
Six other biodiversity officers have now followed Clare’s lead, extending the initiative to...
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