Rathgar Parish Laudato Si Group Creates Biodiversity Garden

Miriam Mooney sent ECI this latest news:

The 6th anniversary of the publication of ‘Laudato Si’ was celebrated during the week 16th to 24th May 2021. The Encyclical catalogues the environmental damage being done to the planet including the loss of biodiversity. The Encyclical is an exhortation to all people of the world to take action to protect “our common home”. It is addressed to every living person on the planet.

Some of the key messages in Laudato Si could be summarised as follows:

Everyone must act responsibly to save our world. All human beings are affected, and everything in nature, by the crises of climate change, misuse of natural resources, waste and pollution, poverty and dislocation. Everything is interconnected; we cannot understand the social or natural world or their parts in isolation. We must be truthful; let no one hide or distort facts in order to gain selfish advantage. We must engage in honest, transparent, constructive dialogue based on the principles of solidarity, subsidiarity, working for the common good, universal destination of goods, and preferential option for the poor and for the earth. Particular interests must not hijack the negotiations. We must transcend ourselves in solidarity.

Shortly after the publication a Laudato Si Group was formed in Rathgar Parish to read and reflect on the Encyclical.

Since reading the Encyclical the activities of the Laudato Si Group have expanded. It has responded to the Pope’s exhortation in many ways including arranging talks from guest speakers; Brian Grogan SJ recently gave an inspirational talk to a group of almost 50 attendees on Zoom-  the incorporation of prayers for the environment in the parish liturgy, raising environmental awareness generally and latterly the development of a Biodiversity garden to the rear of the church.

The garden project commenced in Autumn 2020 and progress has been made to-date. A range of pollinating plants and shrubs have been planted including native Hawthorn, Willow and Alder saplings.  Dandelions are encouraged as they are super pollinators and their seed heads provide great feeding for Bullfinches and Goldfinches. We are avoiding peat based compost. Posters with information about biodiversity are attached to the railings of the garden helping raise awareness of the actions everyone can take to enhance Biodiversity.

A bird feeder, bird boxes and insect nesting sites have been installed. We would like to thank parishioners and others for their generous gifts of plants, advice and finance to-date.

The biodiversity garden is a community response to the Pope’s urgent  call for action on our environment – how we interact with our natural world is deeply related to how we interact with all other human beings. 

We always welcome any offers of assistance/ involvement / knowledge and pollinator plants. Our email address is: [email protected].