Minister Malcolm Noonan, Minister of State for Heritage & Electoral Reform, said:
This toolkit is great initiative for Biodiversity and one I hope can be shared across classrooms in the country through other Local Authorities. Hedgerows are extremely important in providing food, shelter and corridors for maintaining wildlife diversity, particularly for birds, but also for other fauna and for wild plants. Local Authorities play a vital role in addressing the biodiversity crisis and I’m delighted to support Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in this initiative through the Local Biodiversity Action Fund, operated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of my Department.
Anne Murray, Biodiversity Officer, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, highlighted:
The aim of the Hedgerow Toolkit for Schools is to engage, inspire and motivate our young people through classroom learning and through visiting their local hedgerows; to equip our future generations with informed insight into these amazing features of our landscape that help us in the face of climate change, that provide habitats and refuges for our biodiversity, clean our air, reduce disease, provide food and shelter – the benefits of our hedgerows go on and on.
