Dublin’s Bull Island Selected as Site for Hot Spot Project
Leave No Trace Ireland, Deloitte, and Dublin City Council partner to address impacts on UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
Thursday 4th August 2022 : Leave No Trace Ireland, in collaboration with Deloitte and Dublin City Council has selected Bull Island in Dollymount on Dublin’s North side as a site for this year’s Hot Spot Project – a conservation project aimed at addressing the impact of heavy use and activities on Bull Island which is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Under the Hot Spot Programme the chosen location receives a unique, site-specific blend of training, expert consulting, education programmes, and service projects. With site-specific Leave No Trace measures in place, the area is equipped to bounce back from impacts and recover its natural qualities. The result is a sustainable outdoor area that is on the road to recovery.
Padraic Creedon, Ecologist with Leave No Trace Ireland said Bull Island is a unique site for the 2022 Hot Spot Project.
“This year we’re working with Deloitte on our Bull Island Hot Spot Project.
Bull Island is an extremely unique place in Ireland – it is man-made, created 200 years ago when the North Bull Wall was constructed. It continues to grow seaward, a rare natural occurrence here. It is now 5 km in length and 1 km wide; and covers an area nearly 15 km² in size, including both land and seashore.
“The purpose of the Hot Spot Programme is to teach people how to make responsible decisions when participating in outdoor activities, to promote a sense of stewardship for the natural world, and an understanding of how to reduce our carbon footprint. Using Leave No Trace solutions, these areas can be restored and thrive again.”
Speaking about the partnership and Hot Spot Project, Brian Jackson, COO & Partner, Deloitte Ireland said:
“At Deloitte, empowering our people is central to our sustainability ambition. We have introduced an education and engagement programme to assist our people to identify the role they can play to address climate change. Our partnership with Leave No Trace on the Bull Island Hot Spot Programme gives our people the opportunity to make an impact that matters by working to clean up and restore Bull Island, while also equipping them with biodiversity knowledge.”
To date the Bull Island Hot Spot has seen over 60 volunteers from across Deloitte get involved, taking action to help restore and maintain this amazing ecosystem. The Deloitte Impact Days have seen volunteers conduct beach clean-ups, undertake marine biodiversity surveys, as well as remove invasive plant species from the sand dunes. Thanks to their efforts over 80 bags of invasive plant material have been removed, 14 biodiversity surveys have been carried out and over 10 bags of litter have been collected. The groups focused on removing smaller pieces of litter from the beach in a bid to prevent microplastics from entering the ocean and causing the devastation to marine life that these plastics are known for.
Media Contact : Grace – [email protected]
Note for Editors:
Leave No Trace Ireland is Ireland’s only outdoor ethics programme, which promotes the responsible use of the outdoors. Through education, research and partnerships, Leave No Trace Ireland enables and supports individuals, communities, organisations and companies in reducing the environmental impact of outdoor activities.
Information on Bull Island:
The island supports nine habitats and a range of species protected under the EU Habitats Directive, including petalwort (a species of liverwort), marsh fritillary butterfly, harbour and grey seals, and at least three species of bat, including common pipistrelle, soprano pipistrelle, and leisler’s. The island also supports three moss species, bryum intermedium, bryum uliginosum, and bryum warneum and one species of plant, lesser centaury, which are legally protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Service Flora Protection Order.
A range of wildfowl and wading birds protected under the EU Birds Directive spend the winter on North Bull Island, these birds migrate to the island every year from as far away as Canada and Africa. Three species regularly occur in numbers that are considered internationally important: light-bellied brent goose, black-tailed godwit and bar-tailed godwit. Fourteen other species regularly occur in nationally important numbers: shelduck, teal, pintail, shoveler, oystercatcher, grey plover, golden plover, knot, sanderling, dunlin, curlew, redshank, turnstone and black-headed gull. The island also supports significant numbers of birds during the summer.
What is an SPA (Special Protection Areas)?
The Special Protection Areas are designated areas of protection under the European Union Birds Directive and are in place to protect rare and vulnerable bird species, migratory bird species, and wetlands that are deemed to be internationally important.
Because Ireland is situated along the east Atlantic flyway, it is ideal for water birds that breed in more northerly latitudes. It is our typically mild and wet winters that make the wetlands of Ireland such an important resource for over three-quarters of a million of these waterbirds each year. Over 50 species of waterbird migrate here either on passage to more southerly resorts or to spend the entire winter here. They seek out the relatively undisturbed wetland areas for ice-free feeding conditions and for safe roosting opportunities. Bull Island is one of these Special Protection Areas.
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