The Biodiversity and Bioblitz Festival is back for 2024!
To celebrate National Biodiversity Week 2024, MKO is teaming up with Portumna Community School and other project partners to host a Biodiversity Festival and Bioblitz in Portumna. Join us on the evening of Thursday May 23rd, and throughout May 24th in Portumna Community School, The Forest Park, The Irish Workhouse Centre, Portumna Castle and other venues in the town. There will be various biodiversity events, surveys, and of course, the BioBlitz competition!
What is a BioBlitz? It’s a race against the clock to find and identify as many species as possible within 24 hours. It’s a fun and educational way to learn about the amazing biodiversity right in our own backyard.
National Biodiversity Week Ireland takes place 17th – 26th May 2024.
The timetable of events is below. All events are free to attend and registration is not required.
| Time | Location | Event |
| Thursday 23rd May | ||
| 7:30pm – 8:30pm | Portumna Community School | The Bioblitz countdown timer starts. Public talk on moths and mammal/bat surveys. Demonstration of setting up of moth and camera traps along with small mammal traps and hedgehog tubes. |
| 9:30pm – 11:00pm | Irish Workhouse Centre | Bat walk and nocturnal foray. |
| Friday 24th May | ||
| 6:30am – 8:00am | Portumna Forest Park | Dawn Chorus walk in the woods and along the lake |
| 9:00am – 10:00am | Portumna Community School | Moth and small mammal trap opening |
| 11:30am – 1:30pm | Portumna Forest Park – meeting at Marina | Woodland Walk with Coillte ecologists and kick sampling, lake and aquatic sampling demonstration. |
| 2:30pm – 3:00pm | Portumna Community School | Conservation Detection Dogs demonstration |
| 3:00pm | Portumna Community School | Camera trap viewing and species counting |
| 4:00pm – 5:00pm | Portumna Castle | Biodiversity at the Castle. Tour of the castle grounds with a group of ecologists. |
| 7:30pm | The Irish Workhouse Centre | Birds of the Shannon Callows talk by Kathryn Finney from BirdWatch Ireland. Learn about the birdlife that lives in this stunning habitat. |
