Offaly Minister welcomes extension to peatlands community engagement scheme

Communities in bog-rich areas, such as Offaly and Laois, have an extended opportunity to avail of the Peatlands Community Engagement Scheme.

Minister Pippa Hackett has welcomed the extension for applications to Friday, December 4, 2020.

“The scheme will allocate €200,000 to initiatives with community benefit that promote awareness, conservation and the revitalisation of Irish peatlands,” she says.

“Under the Peatlands Community Engagement Scheme in 2020, a diverse range of initiatives were put forward by active community groups and environmental organisations, so I hope to see more applications from Offaly and Laois this year.

“We have a wealth of bogland in this county and this is our opportunity to protect its biodiversity. The best initiatives for this come from the community and will ultimately give the community a sense of connection with their bogland. There are many wonderful examples of bog rehabilitation, and it is important that we continue to support such work.”

Such has been the interest in protecting peatlands and instigating projects on the bog, the 2021 funding is double the fund of 2020 - which itself was double the actual allocation from the Government.

Announcing the extension the Minister for Heritage, Malcolm Noonan stated that he was delighted to see the range of initiatives put forward by active community groups and environmental organisations under the Peatlands Community Engagement Scheme in 2020 and had decided to double the original allocation of funding of €50,000 after seeing the level of interest in the scheme and the quality of applications.