PEACEPLUS Battle of the Boyne Biodiversity Programme

A Biodiversity project with the aim of increasing Youth awareness of the local ecology, using the Battle of the Boyne site as an example will be undertaken with 120 young people. Other sites may also be visited and used to showcase the varied biodiversity within the area. The project will link to Coillte forest trails adjacent to the Battle of the Boyne site. It will also link to other routes along Boyne Camino where possible.
It is also clear that young people are increasingly animated and anxious about the challenges of the environment and climate change - this is a shared challenge for young people. Investigating a range of sites for which there may be perceptions around “ownership” will help young people to see the shared nature of both the sites and the biodiversity challenges that each possesses. This will contribute to attitudinal change among participants towards different places and behavioural changes with participants visiting places that they would not have otherwise done before. There is a need to help young people find a way to embrace and protect their own local environment and the biodiversity that exists within it. This programme needs to address this issue and to engage young people in activities around biodiversity, giving them the opportunity to demonstrate leadership and agency in this area as environmental protectors.
This project will contribute to the wider animation of the Battle of the Boyne site in conjunction with the Louth PEACEPLUS improved accessibility and Interpretive Signage project being undertaken at the Battle of the Boyne site.