The new "Birdwatch in the Schoolyard" initiative in Co Clare will improve students' awareness of birds and their environment, Ms Tina Knox Fleming, of Clare County Council's environment section said yesterday.
Speaking after the introduction of the scheme, run with Duchas and BirdWatch Ireland, Ms Fleming said 17 schools in Clare would work with eight schools in Ennis where the project was run on a pilot basis. Each school will receive a bird table, bird-feeder, binoculars and a bird identification chart.
At the scheme's inauguration at Ogonnolloe National School, council chairman Cllr Sean Hillery said the project would bring nature back into schools.
"The council is more conscious of the needs of birds and their preservation. We have lost too many through lack of understanding of their habitats."
Teachers were invited to a briefing with BirdWatch Ireland. Ennis Information Age Town has set up pages on its website at www.ennis.ie with online bird recording forms for the schools. Bird behaviour observations of interest will also be featured.
A Clare-based naturalist, Mr John Carmody, welcomed the scheme and said he hoped it would make local authorities more conscious of the importance of hedgerows and raise awareness generally.
"Hedgerow cutting eliminates shelter and it eliminates food. It is extremely destructive, particularly for the migratory birds." He added that hedges were also being cut under the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme, although this "flew in the face of nature".