Catchment News

Celebrate World Wetlands Day with the Stories from the Waterside online story reading – 19:30 Thursday 2 February

Celebrate this World Wetlands Day on Thursday 2 February. Stories from the Waterside is a unique collection of short stories celebrating individual connections with Ireland’s rivers, lakes and beaches. These stories are the winners of a national story writing competition. You will by hear Stories form the Waterside that are being read to an audience for the first time and you can vote now for which ones you would like to hear.

LAWPRO have held an evening of story reading from Stories from the Waterside on World Wetlands Day or World Waters Day every year since 2020. This event has proved extremely popular, and LAWPRO are hosting this event again this year to celebrate World Wetlands Day on Thursday 2 February 2023 at 19:30.

This year is about hearing stories which have not yet been read out already. You can vote on which stories you would like to hear.

Voting closes on Tuesday 24 Jan 2023. You can vote here: https://consult.watersandcommunities.ie/en/content/stories-waterside-top-5

All stories are on the Stories from the Waterside website, and can be searched by county, folklore, wildlife, waterbody type or waterbody name.

www.storiesfromthewaterside.ie

This event is being organised by LAWPRO, Inland Fisheries Ireland, Waterways Ireland, Heritage Council, and the Heritage Officers Programme.

Event registration

You can register for this event on Thursday 2 February at 19:30 now by using this link: https://bit.ly/storiesfromthewaterside

Who is involved?

Quite simply, everyone in Ireland has a role to play. This can be from something as simple as making sure you don’t pollute your local stream, or a local community working together to establish a Rivers Trust to enhance the rivers and lakes in their area, to a Government Department or Agency helping a Minister implement a new policy to help protect and enhance all our water bodies.

This website has been developed and is maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a collaboration between the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Local Authority Waters Programme.

LAWCO

Local Authority Waters Programme

The Local Authority Waters Programme coordinates the efforts of local authorities and other public bodies in the implementation of the River Basin Management Plan, and supports local community and stakeholder involvement in managing our natural waters, for everyone’s benefit.

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA is responsible for coordinating the monitoring, assessment and reporting on the status of our 4,842 water bodies, looking at trends and changes, determining which waterbodies are at risk and what could be causing this, and drafting environmental objectives for each.

DECLG

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Department is responsible for making sure that the right policies, regulations and resources are in place to implement the Water Framework Directive, and developing a River Basin Management Plan and Programme of Measures to protect and restore our waters.