This is the Home page of the Bantry Tidy Towns Biodiversity Survey that aims to highlight and enhance the wonderful array of wildlife in and around Bantry town. As part of the project we would love to find out where various mammals amphibians and birds occur in and around our town. We're looking for animals such as hedgehogs, squirrels, otters, frogs, newts, bats, barn owls and swifts. For this we need your help! If you see a wild animal in or around Bantry we would be delighted if you could tell us its location by marking it on a map (click on Submit your sighting at the top). If you see animals in Bantry which are not on this list or if you would like to tell us more about your wildlife sightings you can e-mail clareheardman[@]environ.ie
***Remember you can use My sightings (top right menu) to keep track on your own sightings.***
More about the Bantry Biodiversity Survey
Bantry has a wealth of wildlife and habitats within the town boundaries and in the surrounding countryside. Marine habitats are obviously important given Bantry's location by the sea. For example, the shores range from rock to shingle to sand and gravel. There are earthern cliff and marine islands. Terns and common seals breed in the bay and dolphins can sometimes be spotted. In and around the town there are many other habitats including lovely old woodlands, grasslands, wetlands, moorland, old walls, a lagoon, freshwater lakes, buildings with bat roosts and much more.
However, the habitats and wildlife of Bantry have never been mapped or fully documented. As a result the habitats of Bantry are undervalued as we are not aware of what biodiversity is present and its potential value in terms of conservation, tourism and education.
Text Clare Heardman, 2009.
