02/06/2026
2025 was an important year for the biodiversity and conservation work being undertaken by Conservation Volunteers Galway in Galway City.
After a very successful breeding season for Common Terns on the floating platforms in Lough Atalia in 2024, sadly Avian Influenza returned in 2025. This viral disease spreads quickly in birds that nest in a colony, such as Common Terns. About one third of the adult and juvenile terns perished.
With funding from Galway Atlantaquaria and the Heritage Council, significant upgrading of the three rafts was completed in 2025 by volunteers from Conservation Volunteers Galway to reduce the potential impact of Avian Influenza in 2026. One raft was doubled in size and all rafts had new materials applied, to increase the distance between nests.
As of early June 2026 there are 31 nesting Common Terns and no sign of the return of Avian Influenza. Included in that 31 are some of the 64 chicks which hatched in 2023 which hopefully return the colony to it's origins size of 50 nesting pairs. It is also hoped to ring the adult and juvenile terns in 2025.
In May 2025, further funding was received from the Heritage Council to construct a Sand Martin Wall on the shoreline of Lough Atalia at the GRETB Outdoor Education Centre. Technical support for the Sand Martin Wall project is being provided by Atlantic Technological University. Learnings from the Common Terns project and the Sand Martin Wall project are being integrated into the teaching at Atlantic Technological University and Galway Community College (which is run by GRETB).
