As of March 2023, all 42 councils and local authorities on the island of Ireland have formally signed up to the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan.
By becoming Council Partners, councils voluntarily agree to consider the recommendations of the Pollinator Plan when developing their policies, plans, and management decisions. They also commit to carrying out evidence-based pollinator-friendly actions as recommended in the guideline: Councils: Actions to Help Pollinators, and provide a report on their work to the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan each year.
All-Ireland Pollinator Plan co-founder, Dr Una Fitzpatrick said:
“We’re thrilled that every council and local authority on the island of Ireland is now formally partnered to the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. This is a huge achievement that shows we are now all on the same page when it comes to managing our landscape for pollinators.
Pollinating insects are in decline on our island, but since the Pollinator Plan began, we have gained the support of many governmental and non-governmental partners and have seen increases in local populations where actions have been taken to help them. This shows what we are doing is working and gives us hope that if we continue to take action together, we can create an island where pollinators can survive and thrive.
Council Partners are a key part of this journey. We have already seen amazing work taking place in local authorities for pollinators and biodiversity, including the Don’t Mow Let it Grow project in the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, the development of individual pollinator plans for towns in County Cork, and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown’s work into pesticide alternatives. But we still have a long way to go. We’d like to thank all our Council Partners for joining the effort to help pollinators, and are looking forward to continuing to support them in taking the right actions in the coming years.”
Reporting and Transparency
Now all councils have committed to taking actions for pollinators, annual reporting will be a mandatory requirement for remaining a partner. This facilitates transparency and accountability, and knowledge-sharing between local authorities. Every council partner is required to submit an update on their actions for pollinators, which is then published publicly on the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan website.
To find out what your local authority did for pollinators in 2022, you can read the full report here:
All-Ireland-Pollinator-Plan-Council-Partners-report-2022.pdf (pollinators.ie)
What’s next?
We have reached a huge milestone, but we still have a long way to go. The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan will continue to work with councils to support their efforts to help pollinators, and provide up to date, evidence-based advice.
Many councils are tackling the same challenging areas of work, from large-scale meadow management to identifying pesticide alternatives. Knowledge-sharing through blogs and conferences is a key objective of the Council Partner network. The 2023 All-Ireland Pollinator Plan Council Conference run in collaboration with Monaghan County Council will explore key areas of work and explore solutions to common challenges faced by local authorities.
Over the coming months the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan will release an updated version of the guideline Councils: Actions to Help Pollinators. This will include a scoring system to allow councils to measure their progress and identify areas for further development.
Find out more
All-Ireland Pollinator Plan Council pages
Guideline: Councils – Actions to Help Pollinators
All-Ireland-Pollinator-Plan-Council-Partners-report-2022.pdf (pollinators.ie)
All-Ireland-Pollinator-Plan-2021_Councils-Partners-Annual-Review.pdf (pollinators.ie)