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In support of:
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What is it?The Pollinator Project is Ireland's largest and longest running pollinator education programme for schools.
The initiative works with schools across Ireland to train young people as pollinator ambassadors and assist in delivering bee-positive actions across the school grounds such as meadow creation and bulb planting. Our team of teachers and scientists have visited classrooms all across Ireland and have trained an incredible 20,000 children as pollinator ambassadors for their schools, homes, farms and communities. |
Minister Ossian Smyth launching the Pollinator Project 2023 at Gaelscoil Shliabh Rua, Dublin 18.
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How to get involved
Minister Ossian Smyth and SIRO CEO John Keaney along with the team from Gaelscoil Shliabh Rua, SIRO and Biodiversity in Schools at the Pollinator Project 2023 launch.
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For 2023, we're delighted to reach even more schools by partnering with SIRO, Ireland’s 100% fibre broadband network, connecting communities across Ireland. Thanks to their support we can offer free pollinator kits and workshops to reach over 3,500 primary school children. You can register below for the free kits and workshops. Don't worry if you miss them, you can still get involved by taking the pollinator pledge and downloading your digital pollinator pack.
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Pollinator Pledge
Every school in Ireland can take the Pollinator Pledge up to June 30th. To download your free certificate, sign and worksheet please complete the pledge below. There are 3 super simple tasks. All the background info is available here. In a nutshell we want you to reduce mowing your grass, donate your unused pitch to pollinators for July and August and map your great deeds here :)
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FREE Workshops
SIRO have sponsored over 40 school workshops near their sites, training over 1,000 children as pollinator ambassadors. Please note we are now closed for applications but you can still book your place directly here.
FREE Pollinator kit
SIRO have sponsored 100 teaching kits for over 2,500 children including everything from worksheets to wildflower seed. Please note we are now closed for applications.
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More about Pollinators...
Background
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Ireland is home to 102 species of bee (solitary x80, bumble x21, honey x1). Our wild bees are at risk (bumble, solitary), not honeybees. Worryingly more than half of our wild bees have undergone large declines in their numbers since the 80s. Research shows that 30% of Irish species are now threatened with extinction, with some already having become extinct. The cause for concern is because of the ecological value of bees. They are often referred to as pollinators; a group of insects who perform the process of transferring pollen from one flower to another, ultimately completing the lifecycle of the flower and giving rise to the food we eat. The importance of such insects to our food system is astonishing; 71 of the top 100 world food crops (90% of world food supply) are dependent on pollination, a service worth €153 billion per year. Thankfully, Irish scientists are working hard to help our bees and have developed the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan.
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