GREEN PLANET AWARD: Raising awareness of how the food we eat affects the planet is the theme of the new Green Planet Awards.
The scheme encourages third-level students to highlight environmental issues. The website greenplanetawards.org offers lots of information for potential campaigns such as the UN finding that more than 70 per cent of Amazon deforestation is due to either livestock grazing or growing soya for animal feed for meat production. Entries by May 1st to The Green Planet Awards, Real Events, Cathedral Court, Fumbally Lane, Dublin 8. info@greenplanetawards.org or tel: 01-5224800
EXPERTS AVAILABLE
Now in its 10th year, the Heritage in Schools scheme, run by the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (www.into.ie), offers schools access to more than 100 experts who will come to talk to children on specialist subjects. The expertise ranges from bats to whales, Vikings to the history of bread, story-telling to traditional dance, and charcoal making to military heritage. Visits cost from €35 to €100. See into.ie for more details
Meanwhile, if you are in Dublin city centre on Sunday afternoon, go along to hear Éanna Ní Lamhna speak about Wild Dublin in City Hall at 3.30pm. The event is part of the Dublin Book Festival. www.dublinbookfestival.com
SAVING RAISED BOGS
Turf-cutting on raised bogs is to be phased out from this summer to protect the remaining peat-forming raised bogs. However, there are concerns that a working group will not be in place in time. “The Government has had 10 years to prepare for the cessation scheme and yet they have left it to the last minute to form this working group,” says Sarah Malone of the Irish Peatland Conservation Council. Ireland’s raised bogs are believed to be the best examples of raised bogs in Europe yet less than 1 per cent of them remain. More than a third were lost in the last 10 years as a direct result of turf-cutting.
ECOWEB
www.heritagecouncil.ie
With a striking photograph of its new offices in Kilkenny City on the home page, this newly designed website of the Heritage Council is more outward looking. Check out county heritage plans, policy papers and an online version of Heritage Outlook magazine. The site also offers plenty of scope for publicizing local heritage events
sthompson@irishtimes.com
