Rachel Cunningham
The Lord Mayor of Dublin has launched a new initiative aimed at greening Dawson Street.
Ms Caroline Conroy has spent the past few months meeting with businesses on the street and urging them to join the initiative, which will involve placing pots and planters containing trees, shrubs and other plants along the street.
The idea is to provide a corridor from St Stephens Green to Trinity College with pollinator friendly pots, flowers boxes and hanging baskets, to ensure a food and energy source for the pollinator and a more pleasant routes for anyone using the street.
The actions aim to help reverse declining bee populations in Ireland, more than half of which have undergone substantial decline since the 1980s.
Two species are now extinct and one third of Ireland’s 98 bee species are threatened with extinction.
This decline is largely due to a drastic reduction in areas where they can nest and the amount of food our landscape provides for them, in addition to the use of herbicides.
“Pollinator friendly plants like these provide our pollinating insects including bees, butterflies, moths and beetles with a source of pollen and nectar from early spring to autumn while also creating a visual impact on our street scape,” said the Lord Mayor.
“Planted containers create a corridor for our pollinating insects. While our honey bee will travel up to 5km to find nectar and pollen, our bumblebee and solitary bees travel much shorter distances. This is why it is important to provide stepping stones such as these.”
Dublin City Council and the business representative group Dublin Town are supporting the greening initiative, which is based on the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan.
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