Solas Bhride Centre in Kildare, Ireland celebrated Earth Day on Saturday, April 27 with Emer Conway, Climate Ambassador, An Taisce as facilitator. Emer began by presenting the theme for Earth Day 2019 which was “Protect our Species”. By selecting this theme the Earth Day organisers wished to educate and raise awareness about the accelerating rate of extinction of millions of species and the causes and consequences of this phenomenon. They also hope to build and activate a global movement that embraces nature and its values and encourage individual actions.
Emer then spoke about building an ARK, ‘Acts of Restorative Kindness’. The concept of an ARK is the brain child of May Reynolds, gold medal winner at the Chelsea Flower Show. One of the aims of ARK is to create safe and abundant havens for as many wild creatures as possible. Emer led the participants in fencing off a section of the Solas Bhride grounds. It is hoped that over time this will become a thriving patch of native plants and a pantry and a habitat for pollinators and wild creatures who are in desperate need of support.
“Building an ARK is something all of us can do,” said Emer. “All we need to do is set aside a small space in our gardens and allow it to grow wild. Each small action can make a difference in protecting our pollinators.”
We will keep an eye on the ARK during the coming months and try to identify what creatures will make their home there.
