The inaugural Galway City ‘Spaces for Biodiversity’ Competition Awards was held on Tuesday 3 December at the Galway Bay Hotel. The competition is organised by Galway City Council to recognise and celebrate the efforts of residents throughout the city in putting biodiversity first in their gardens, estates, and public areas. The Mayor of Galway City, Cllr. Peter Keane was in attendance to present the prizes.
In lieu of the long running Tidy Gardens competition, this change of format, which pivoted the competition towards raising awareness and appreciation of both the ecological and well-being benefits of embracing biodiversity, really captured the publics imagination with some outstanding examples of the people of Galway managing their own gardens to encourage biodiversity and enhance the potential of these areas to act as ecological corridors for the wider city.
The competition coordinator, Galway City Council’s Environmental Awareness Officer Fergal Cushen, commented ‘we wanted to align this competition more with both our local and national Biodiversity Action Plans, All Ireland Pollinator Plan and indeed our Climate Action Plans and recognising and promoting the work of individuals and communities to enhance biodiversity across the city is very much part of that. I’m delighted with all the entries, and they are a testament to the pride people have in Galway city, and the spaces within it.’
The attendees were also treated to the fantastic Scoil Íde 3rd class choir who got everyone in the festive spirit with a medley of Christmas carols. The Mayor of Galway, Cllr. Peter Keane commented “It is a great honour to present the winners with these certificates tonight and each recipient has shown enormous pride and respect for both the natural environment and the city of Galway. I’m sure this competition will go from strength to strength and tonight demonstrates the huge potential for change in all these spaces across the city, and for this Galway City Council is proud to support this competition.”
All the entries demonstrated spaces for diverse habitats through a variety of pollinator and bird friendly plants, wildlife ponds, fruit and vegetable patches and plenty of hiding spots for small animals and insects.
“We cannot underestimate the value of gardens in providing niches for nature, particularly in our urban spaces. Across all the entries, gardeners showed they are keen to maintain and enhance biodiversity within our city and a a willingness to adapt their own areas to the benefit of biodiversity. This competition feeds into the great biodiversity work being carried out by communities across Galway City, and the Council are keen to support the community though biodiversity initiatives such as the Hares Corner to provide a vital patchwork of connectivity for wildlife throughout the city”, Biodiversity Officer for Galway City Council, Paula Kearney, commented.
For further information on the competition visit www.GalwayCity.ie/Spaces-For-Biodiversity
