Inishowen Rivers Trust receives national funding to expand training

The Inishowen Rivers Trust has been awarded funding by the Heritage Council to develop specialist river monitoring and habitat restoration skills within community groups throughout  Ireland through a national River Guardians training programme.

The charity, which is dedicated to the conservation, protection and enhancement of the natural heritage of our river systems, has more than seven years of experience working in the area of river restoration.

The proposed River Guardians programme will develop specialist river monitoring and habitat restoration skills within community groups. Groups, in Milford, Donegal and Sligo Bay, will be used as pilot studies for this new syllabus.

The successful Inishowen River Guardians training, filled 481 training places, with 59 trained river guardians and 11 volunteer events. The programme developed specialised training on river monitoring and restoration techniques.

Significant progress made on long-awaited Greencastle Breakwater

Foreshore lease approved and contractor appointed for the project

The Inishowen Rivers Trust Chair Claire Thompson said: “The Heritage Capacity Fund is an excellent opportunity to share the knowledge and experience of the Inishowen Rivers Trust from working to protect and enhance our river systems. The programme of training will support communities to run an effective river group and create a strong volunteer base of well-trained River Guardians.”

The first event, as part of this Heritage Council funded training programme, is a two-part webinar on the evolution of our landscape in the North West of Ireland, on Thursday, April at 7pm and Thursday, May 18 at 7pm, delivered by Dr Peter Wilson, Emeritus Professor and lecturer in geomorphology at Ulster University. 

The events are open to the public and available free of charge, online through Eventbrite https://RiverGuardians.eventbrite.ie.