On the 17th and 18th August, the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan team went to Knocknacarra Community Centre in Galway City for the 2024 Wild Bee Festival. The Wild Bee Festival is an annual weekend of walks, talks and workshops coordinated by the National Biodiversity Data Centre to raise awareness of Ireland’s pollinators and how to help them in local communities. As well as teaching practical skills such as wildflower seed collecting, bumblebee identification and the best actions to help pollinators, the festival had a great mixture of speakers who gave more insight into how we can all make a difference for these important insects.
Saving the Large Carder Bee
Grace Clinton from Fenit’s Changing Tides in Kerry gave an inspiring talk about the group’s work to protect the Large Carder Bee. After hearing about this endangered pollinator at the 2023 Wild Bee Festival in Tralee, Grace went home and discovered it was present in Fenit.
Working from an undeveloped, overgrown area on their estate, Fenit’s Changing Tides worked hard to restore a native wildflower meadow. By adopting a ‘patience, not packets’ approach and reducing mowing, plants like orchids and cuckooflower have appeared. This previously unused area has become a wildflower-rich haven for all pollinators including the Large Carder, full of the food plants it favours like Kidney Vetch and clovers.
Creating Urban Meadows
Rob Steed from Galway City Council kept the meadow theme going by taking us on a visual tour of the community meadows around Galway City. Rob’s work with different residents associations showed us that meadows don’t need to be large to make a difference, and can even serve a purpose for people as well as pollinators, creating mini havens for communities to enjoy.
One mini meadow beside a bus stop has even been designed with multiple access points and family-friendly pathways, so local residents can enjoy the meadow while commuting to and from work or school.
Protecting Merlin Woods
On the second day of the festival, we were treated to a talk by Colin and Caroline Stanley from the Friends of Merlin Woods. This urban woodland on the east side of Galway City is a sanctuary for biodiversity, captured beautifully in Colin’s photography.
The group have gone to great lengths to encourage the community to connect with the woods, running creative projects involving art, drama and music to inspire new ways of experiencing the woodland and protecting the creatures that live in it.
Exploring Barna Woods & Galway City’s First Rain Garden
Just outside the Knocknacarra Community Centre, Barna Woods is a haven for people and nature. Galway City’s Biodiversity Officer Paula Kearney showed us around the woods and the various areas where biodiversity work is taking place. The highlight of the walk was the new pollinator-friendly rain garden, built by Shantalla Men’s Shed. This planter will help reduce and slow down rain runoff, whilst helping Galway’s pollinators with a range of water-loving plants rich in nectar and pollen.
Reflections on the 2024 Wild Bee Festival
This year’s festival was a reminder of the important role communities play in changing the fortunes of Ireland’s pollinators. Numbers are still in decline across the island of Ireland, but local populations are increasing where actions are being taken to help them. Even small spaces in urban areas can make a difference if they are managed the right way. Whether creating a leaf mandala, building a rain garden, or walking to the bus through an urban meadow, if we create opportunities for people to connect with nature we can foster a love for our natural world.
We’re so grateful to all of the speakers at the 2024 Wild Bee Festival, to everyone who attended, and to Galway City Council for making this year’s festival possible. Let’s keep the buzz going!
Keep an eye out on the Wild Bee Festival homepage for details of the 2025 festival. It might be coming to a town near you!