Social Partner calls for forests to remain in public hands

Social Partner calls for forests to remain in public hands   Dublin - 6th December, 2010. The Environmental Pillar of Social Partnership has warned that Ireland's forests are in danger of being sold off to reduce government debt, and is calling for them to remain in public hands. The group is urging the Government to issue a statement that it will not privatise Ireland's forest assets. "A sale of Irish Forests would not be in the best interests of the Irish public or their environment," said Michael Ewing, a spokesperson for the Pillar. "We have already seen oil, gas, and mineral rights sold off, impoverishing the nation on many levels."   Coillte (the Irish Forestry Board) manages over one million acres of forestry land on behalf of the Irish People. It was one of a number of agencies selected for possible privatisation by the McCarthy Report. In January of this year the International Forestry fund, chaired by Bertie Ahern TD expressed an interest in buying Coillte. The Pillar is strongly opposed to the sale of state forests covering an area twice the size of County Meath. It also has serious reservations about the involvement of a company chaired by a former Taoiseach who was privy to the appointment of Coillte directors and was responsible for some of the decisions that have brought us to the point of selling off such valuable assets.   The overall aim of the  Environmental Pillar is to find a new direction for forest policy in Ireland that balances environmental, social and economical needs. It is claimed that getting this balance correct will provide more employment opportunities at community level as well as addressing problems such as flooding, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss.   "Now more than ever we need to make the wisest use of our public forestry resources in order to create jobs and economic growth, with minimal investment," concluded Mr Ewing.   # # #   Please feel free to contact Danny Walsh, Communications Officer, Environmental Pillar of Social Partnership at danny@ien.ie for details or to arrange interviews with representatives of the Environmental Pillar.       Danny Walsh Communications Officer Environmental Pillar of Social Partnership 1 Green Street, Dublin 7, Ireland. http://www.environmentalpillar.ie Email: danny@ien.ie Tel: 01 878 0116 / 01 878 0115

Irish Wildlife Trust Press Release 28th Sept 2010

PRESS RELEASE

 

28th September, 2010 

 

Guide to Sustainable Seafood and Campaign to Reform the Common Fisheries Policy 

 

28,500 people call on EU Fisheries Commissioner to put environment first

 

On Monday September 13^th the Irish Wildlife Trust was among a delegation of European environmental groups that handed over 28,500 signatures to European Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Commissioner, Maria Damanaki, calling on her to prioritise the health of the marine environment in the reform of the European Union's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

 

"From all over Europe people are urging Commissioner Damanaki to conserve valuable marine habitats and ensure the economic vitality of vulnerable coastal communities," said Pádraic Fogarty, chairman of the Irish Wildlife Trust. "The Irish government must show strong leadership by putting the environment first in its negotiations for a reformed Common Fisheries Policy. This means following scientific advice and imposing strict criteria on those seeking access to fisheries resources. We must put the fish before the fishing to ensure that future generations can enjoy seafood as part of a health diet and that coastal communities will reverse their decline. "

 

The IWT, within the European coalition of environmental groups, OCEAN2012, is proposing that access to fishery resources be based on a set of transparent criteria for sustainable fishing, which must include:

·         More selective fishing methods, gears and practices that reduce unintentional catches of non-target species and lessen the impact on the marine environment;

·         Vessels and fishing methods that consume less energy per tonne of fish caught;

·         A good record of compliance with the rules of the CFP.

 

"The marine environment is a common good. It is in the public interest that activities which impact the state of marine fish stocks, and the larger ecosystem, are carefully managed," said Fogarty. "Under the reformed CFP, those who fish in the most sustainable way should be given priority access to fishing grounds."

 

To raise awareness of the link between what we eat and the health of our ocean the IWT has launched an on-line guide to seafood that presented the best available information on the state of the species and the techniques that are used to catch them. This can be found on www.iwt.ie .

 

ENDS

 

Contact:

For further information please contact Padraic Fogarty - IWT Chairman.

Ph: 01 860 2839 or E-mail: enquiries@iwt.ie

 

Notes to the Editor:

1. The Irish Wildlife Trust was founded in 1979 as a charitable conservation body. We provide the public with information about wildlife, run

education and training programs like SAC Watch and the Badger club, carry out habitat and species surveys like the IWT National Lizard Survey

and Newt Survey, campaign and lobby around biodiversity issues, restore natural habitats, consult with industry, agriculture and Local Authorities to

maintain our natural heritage and contribute to national and international forums for the protection of biodiversity. The IWT is a nationwide

organisation with a strong membership base, staff and Board of Directors, with branches in Dublin, Limerick, Waterford and Cork.

2. Details of  OCEAN2012 and its proposal for a reformed CFP can be found at www.OCEAN2012.eu

3. OCEAN2012 is an alliance of 88 organisations dedicated to transforming European Fisheries Policy to stop overfishing, end destructive fishing

practices and deliver fair and equitable use of healthy fish stocks.

OCEAN2012 was initiated, and is co-ordinated, by the Pew Environment Group, the conservation arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a non

governmental organisation working to end overfishing in the world´s oceans.

The steering group of OCEAN2012 is the Coalition for Fair Fisheries Arrangements (CFFA), Ecologistas en Acción, the Fisheries Secretariat

(FISH), nef (new economics foundation), the Pew Environment Group and Seas At Risk (SAR).

 

The Financial Crisis, Peak Oil and You: Building Resilience From the Bottom Up

 

 

Press Release – for immediate release – 19^th July 2010

Transition Cork City – The Resilient Rebels

 

The Financial Crisis, Peak Oil and You:  Building Resilience From the Bottom Up

A unique chance to hear a global perspective on current Money and Energy challenges, and how Cork communities can gear up locally for power-down.

 

Date:  Sunday 1^st August 2010

Time:  7:30 pm

Location:  The Pegasus Room, Clarion Hotel, Lapp's Quay, Cork

Entrance:  €5 (free for unwaged)

 

The world renowned blogger Stoneleigh (aka Nicole Foss) of The Automatic Earth (http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/) is currently touring Europe and will be speaking in Cork on Sunday August 1^st, at 7:30 pm in the Clarion Hotel.  She is an energy industry consultant, a financial analyst and former editor of the Oil Drum Canada.

 

Stoneleigh, and her co-blogger Illargi, were some of very few analysts globally who foresaw such things as the collapse of Lehmann Brothers and the Icelandic banks, so her insights into what is really happening in the financial world are definitely worth hearing.  Her talks present very clearly the stark challenges which lie ahead, and she has made a huge impression wherever she has spoken.  For anyone who wants to find out what is coming down the line, this talk by Stoneleigh is a must.

 

Stoneleigh's Cork talk is the first of three such talks in Ireland, as part of her current European tour.  She is also speaking in Castlebar, Co. Mayo at the Linenhall Theatre on Monday 2^nd August, and at the Greenhouse in Dublin on Tuesday 3^rd August.

 

Stoneleigh is being hosted in Cork by Transition Cork City – The Resilient Rebels, the local initiative of the global Transition movement.  The Transition movement explores how communities can come together and respond to the challenges, and opportunities, of Peak Oil, Climate Change, and increasingly, economic stagnation.  Transition Cork City was formed earlier this year by a group of individuals interested in coming together to find a collective community response to the challenges facing the city, and to help build local resilience.

 

Ends

 

For further information contact:  Dominick Donnelly

Tel:  087-1210783  or  email:  dominickdonnelly@eircom.net

 

 

Further information on Stoneleigh:

She is now a fulltime blogger, with her partner, Illargi, on The Automatic Earth (http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/ )

She is a former editor of The Oil Drum Canada.

She ran the Agri-Energy Producers Association of Ontario, where she has focused on farm based biogas projects and grid connections for renewable energy.

In the UK she was Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, where she specialized in nuclear safety in Eastern European & former Soviet Union and conducted research into electricity policy at the EU level.

She has a BSc in biology from Carleton University in Canada, and a post grad diploma in air and water pollution control. She also has a LLM in international law in development from University of Warwick in the UK. University medal for top science graduate in 1988 and the law school prize for top law school graduate in1997.

 

 

Further information on Transition Cork City – The Resilient Rebels

Transition Cork City was started in February 2010, as the local Transition initiative of the growing international Transition movement.  Find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=107717519258640 or on the Transition Ireland website at http://transitiontownsireland.ning.com/group/corkcity

 

Death by a Thousand Cuts

Press Release

Death by a Thousand Cuts

Illegal hedgerow cutting is detrimental to Irish wildlife and the Irish Wildlife Trust are
appealing to land managers to stop. Hedge cutting continues well into the summer
months but unless for reasons of health and safety this practice is prohibited by the
Wildlife Act from the 1st of March to the 31st of August every year. At this time of
year birds and mammals are breeding and flowering is providing seeds for the next
generation. Despite this is seems that Local Authorities in Ireland only start cutting
hedges in the summer months, creating eye-sores and causing untold destruction to
wildlife.

Hedgerows are essential in providing habitats and corridors for maintaining wildlife
diversity, supporting species such as badgers, owls, hedgehogs, stoats, blackbirds
and innumerable plants, butterflies and other insects. Not only are they an invaluable
reserve for much of our wildlife they are important in providing pollinators, cleaning
our air, defining our landscape, storing carbon and by holding back the flow of water
off land they can alleviate flooding.

'In spite of all these benefits, the Irish hedgerow is suffering "death by a thousand
cuts". They are frequently mismanaged, flayed to within an inch of their existence, or
simply removed during the construction of one-off houses and replaced with invasive
alien cherry laurel "a plant of no value to wildlife.' Commented Padraic Fogarty - IWT
Chairperson.

Each year the IWT encourages the public to report instances of illegal hedgerow
cutting to the IWT, which are followed up with letters to the relevant county council
and the Minister for Environment. Just email the date, location, and if possible the
name of the land manager involved and a photo to enquiries@iwt.ie


ENDS
Contact:
For further information please contact Joanne Pender, IWT Development
Officer Ph: 01 860 2839 or E-mail: enquiries@iwt.ie

Editors Notes:
The Irish Wildlife Trust was founded in 1979 as a charitable conservation body.
We provide the public with information about wildlife, run education and
training programs like SAC Watch and the Outdoor Classroom Programme,
carry out habitat and species surveys like the IWT National Lizard Survey,
campaign and lobby around biodiversity issues, restore natural habitats,
consult with industry, agriculture and Local Authorities to maintain our natural
heritage and contribute to national and international forums for the protection
of biodiversity. The IWT is a nationwide organisation with a strong
membership base, staff and Board of Directors, with branches in Tipperary,
Clare, Limerick, Waterford and Cork.

National Spring Clean comes to Midleton

The Midleton leg of An Taisce’s hugely successful National Spring Clean took place on Sunday 18th April jointly organised by Cork Environmental Forum and the Midleton Transition Town group.

This national event, which attracts an enormous number of volunteers all over the country every year, sees community groups and organisations take to their streets, woodlands, glens and so on determined to restore local beauty spots from forgotten and rubbish infested eyesores.

In Midleton members of the local Transition group, who work towards tackling climate change pressures and fossil fuel dependence in the local area, spent their sunny Sunday morning down by the estuary next to the Bailick Rd Park. This area has taken on the appearance of a landfill site in recent years as piles of rubbish are brought in with the high tide. Two hours flew by in a whirl of work, chat and laughter as 10 enthusiastic volunteers managed to gather an amazing 9 large rubbish bags of aluminium cans, 9 bags of plastic bottles, 11 bags of non-recyclable rubbish, 1 42-inch flat screen TV, 1 mattress, 1 sink, a handy collection of road signs and 2 car bootfuls of glass! The group would like to express their thanks to Billy Buckley and Midleton Town Council who were happy to collect the substantial pile and send for recycling where possible.

So perhaps next time you are taking a stroll in the Bailick Rd. Park you might notice how clean and beautiful the estuary is looking upstream. You might also notice that there is plenty left to be done! Members of the team are determined to come back and finish the job on the weekend of 8/9 May (morning to be decided) and are inviting the Midleton public to get involved. If you would like to express an interest in taking part, you can send a quick email to patrick@cef.ie or leave a message with your name and mobile number (so we can send text messages) on 021 4651734.

More images in our online gallery.