A new Just Transition project is seeking expressions of interest from local individuals and groups to identify wetland sites to be restored.
Tóchar is a three-year wetlands restoration project, co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the EU Just Transition Fund Programme.
Taking its name from the hundreds of ancient paths or toghers laid across the bogs by Irish ancestors, the project will serve the community, bringing participants on a nature restoration journey. Overall, the project will spend €12 million during its lifetime.
In order to start the process, Tóchar has opened an expression of interest call to landowners, communities and groups to become actively involved in nature restoration for wetlands across the EU Just Transition area.
The EU Just Transition Area includes municipal districts in the counties Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath, Roscommon and the Municipal Districts of Ballinasloe (Co Galway), Athy, Clane-Maynooth, (Co Kildare) and Carrick-on-Suir and Thurles (Co Tipperary).
Welcoming the launch of the call for Expressions of Interest, Minister for Nature Malcolm Noonan, said: “The restoration of wetlands is part of the just transition journey towards climate neutrality, a journey where nature can play its part in the provision of a wide range of ecosystem services including nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
"But nature also provides solace, health and recreational benefits, particularly for those who live in the vicinity of nature and wetland sites that are in good condition. Restoring wetlands as part of the Just Transition is essential and community participation in this type of activity has numerous benefits.
"I am delighted to announce the call for Expressions of Interest for the Tóchar Wetlands Restoration scheme and I look forward to its outcomes over the next number of years.”
Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald, Cathaoirleach of the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly said: “This call for expressions of interest is a great opportunity for individuals, landowners, and communities to play an active role in making a difference.
"By restoring nature and our peatlands together, we can build climate resilience and a more sustainable future for ourselves and generations to come."
Tóchar Project Manager, Shirley Clerkin, said: “We hope that people will get involved in Tóchar, so that we can co-operate and build relationships together with the land and its wetlands.
"Restoration of nature goes hand in hand with improving the resilience of communities, particularly important during this time of climate change.
"We need to care for the land and its keepers, and this includes the wetlands and their users in the EU Just Transition area.”
Project Administrator of the Tóchar project team, Monica Byrne, said: “The author Robin Wall Kimmer once wrote ‘We restore the land, and the land restores us’, and this project takes inspiration from the idea that ecological restoration is inseparable from reconnecting people and the landscape.
"We believe hope and positivity comes from action, and we wish for many communities in the Just Transition areas to get involved in meaningful action on the ground.”
She indicated the first step any interested community should take is to contact Tóchar.
“We ask interested groups (or individuals) to get in touch with us, fill out the expression of interest form, give us whatever information you have, so that we can start connecting and co-operating”, she said.
