A three-year €12 million project to restore wetlands across parts of the Midlands has been launched by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).
In the first stage, landowners and community groups have been invited to bid for more than half a million Euro. The project is being promoted by the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly.
The “Tóchar team in NPWS will support successful applicants in restoring their lands by providing funding towards survey work, restoration planning, interpretation and education or restoration actions on the ground.”
The entire counties of Laois, Longford, Offaly, Roscommon, Westmeath, and municipal districts of Ballinasloe (Co. Galway), Athy and Clane-Maynooth (Co. Kildare), and Carrick-on-Suir and Thurles (Co. Tipperary) fall within the scope of Ireland’s EU Just Transition area.
The EU’s Just Transition Fund is designed to help areas shift towards a climate-neutral economy. In Ireland, the fund is being focused in the wider Midlands region. Up to €169 million from the government and EU has been allocated to facilitate the shift towards a low-carbon economy in the Midlands.
Nature Minister, Malcolm Noonan TD, has praised the the Tóchar project’s ambitions.
“The restoration of wetlands is part of the just transition journey towards climate neutrality, a journey where nature can play its part in the provision of a wide range of ecosystem services including nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation. But nature also provides solace, health and recreational benefits, particularly for those who live in the vicinity of nature and wetland sites that are in good condition.”
Tóchar is co-funded by the Government and the European Union. It will be managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The project will spend €12 million over its lifetime.
The name Tóchar comes from the word for ancient paths across bogs, according to the project organisers. Applications from community groups and landowners are open until the end of October.