Tóchar Midlands Wetlands Restoration and Lions Clubs Partner for Nature Restoration

• Under the partnership €250,000 per year will be allocated for 2025 and 2026.
• The partnership will support nature restoration at a community level, harnessing local knowledge and expertise.
• This collaboration to deliver nature benefits across the Just Transition region, this includes the counties of – Kildare, Galway, Roscommon, Laois, Longford, Offaly, Tipperary and Westmeath

Friday, 28 February 2025, Ireland: A new partnership has been established between Tóchar, a Just Transition wetlands restoration project, and the Lions Club a voluntary organisation, who give their time freely to serve their community through support and aid. The partnership will support wetlands restoration projects at a community level, harnessing local knowledge and expertise. This was announced today at the Lions Club National Convention in Tullamore. Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil or is present either at or near the surface of the soil all year or for varying periods of time during the year.

• Under the partnership, €250,000 per year will be allocated for 2025 and 2026, to support restoration projects identified by Lions Clubs. They will manage the restoration of the wetlands and will be guided by Tóchar’s expertise. There is knowledge and expertise within the Lions Club memberships to deliver on these projects. One club which has already demonstrated this leadership is the Tullamore Lions Club, who undertook nature restoration works at Clonbeale More Bog in 2024.

 The projects that result from this partnership will complement the wetland sites that have already been submitted to Tóchar by members of the public, including landowners and communities in its initial open call for expressions of interest in 2024.

Shirley Clerkin from Tóchar said:

“We are delighted to have the Lions Clubs on board in this collaboration to deliver nature benefits across the Just Transition region, this includes the counties of – Kildare, Galway, Roscommon, Laois, Longford, Offaly, Tipperary and Westmeath. Wetlands are good for the environment, filtering water, providing oxygen, and as places of tranquillity and peacefulness. The restoration and reparation of nature is a step on the journey towards sustainability and a new kind of nature positivity, bringing tangible outcomes for health and community.  It’s right that the Lions Clubs can play a meaningful role in this transformation.”

The midlands of Ireland host a broad diversity of freshwater wetlands such as marshes, fens, bogs, rivers, callows, lakes and ponds, each playing a crucial role in the country’s ecology.  Some of these biodiverse areas are unique to Ireland and cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Michael Carroll from the Tullamore Lions Clubs said:

“This partnership with Tóchar allows us to expand our commitment to serving local communities. By working together this can have a real impact by restoring nature which benefits local areas by enhancing biodiversity in those regions. We encourage our clubs across the regions to get involved in this important initiative and look forward to working with the Tóchar team on the approved projects.”

Tóchar’s approach to wetlands restoration is based on inclusivity, aiming to strengthen and support communities while restoring natural habitats. Tóchar is a three-year wetlands restoration project, co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the EU Just Transition Fund Programme. It is managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

To find out more about Tóchar visit www.tocharwetlands.ie or follow us on Instagram @wetlandsrestoration and @tocharstories and find us on Linked In and Facebook as Tóchar Wetlands Restoration.

For Lions Clubs or members looking to get involved please contact the Tullamore Lions Club at carrollm2016@gmail.com.

Additional Information

About Tóchar Midlands Wetlands Restoration

Tóchar is a three-year wetlands restoration project, co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the EU Just Transition Fund Programme. It is managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Overall the project will spend €12m during its lifetime.

Tóchar, implementing action 2.1 of the EU Just Transition Programme in Ireland, aims to restore degraded wetlands, in the context of a just transition and move towards carbon neutrality. Nature restoration is part of a social transition, where the restoration of landscape goes hand in hand with community restoration and our relationships with nature

Tóchar was chosen as the project name, to represent the path along the Just Transition journey, and as a reminder that generations gone before us have used and experienced bogs and wetlands in a myriad of ways. A tóchar or togher is a path through the bog or wetland, hundreds of which have been found deep in the peat across the midlands. Some were made from heavy oak, which had been transported great distances, others were made from other tree species and occasionally flagstones.

Tóchar is based in Birr, Co. Offaly and is due to complete in 2026. It is focusing on the restoration and rehabilitation of degraded peatlands and wetlands. 

About The Lions Club

Lions Clubs are guided by the principle of ‘We Serve’. The 2,000 members of Lions Clubs on the island of Ireland are organised within District 133 of Lions Clubs International, an organisation of 48,000 clubs and 1.45 million Lions that operates in almost every country of the world.  In addition, the Lions Europa Forum is in Ireland this year, Dublin, 5th-8th November 2025 in the Dublin Royal Convention Centre.