Wishing for a green 2003. Compiled by Sarah Marriott.
An Taisce chairman, Michael Smith, would like to see:
1. High-quality, affordable housing integrated with community facilities, green spaces, shops and commercial development in rural towns and villages around the country
2. A trail of green spaces in every town and city, including lush green areas up and down the beleaguered Liffey quays and dotted island parklands in Dublin's river
3. Politicians realising there's no need for superdumps or incineration, that Zero Waste (much better termed "the New Zealand model") is a realistic and popular solution to Ireland's waste crisis
4. The Government abandoning meaningless rhetoric and actually doing something effective about Sellafield
Coastwatch wishes the Government would:
1. Remove the Planning Act exemption for "reclaiming" wetlands and, in parallel, draft a national wetland policy
2. Reform our Wildlife Service, starting with an independent transparent review
3. Introduce a deposit on return system for drinks containers
4. Plan and act to revitalise the traditional small fishing industry and couple it with a marine site protection force
5. Save Lough Foyle, by cross-Border legal and practical protection and management of its marine resources - especially its threatened native oyster beds, the largest in Europe
6. Make coastal zone management a national (ideally, an all-Ireland) reality in 2003
Friends of the Irish Environment wishes for:
1. The European Commission to proceed on our complaint against the €20 fee to comment on planning applications
2. For the Minister for the Environment to declare a "waste crisis" in Co Wicklow to ensure enforcement of the polluter pays principle
3. The appointment of a Judge of the High Court who understands the principles of European Environmental Law
4. The establishment of an Environmental Pillar as part of any social partnership arrangement - to ensure that a new programme for Government addresses the big environmental issues.
5. The freedom to roam our uplands - and rights of way to get there!
Irish Peatland Conservation Council's
big wish:
To protect Ireland's bogs and fens and use peat resources wisely. This is made up of a series of small wishes:
* The re-creation of nature that we have lost, such as raised bogs and fens * More sustainable forms of energy * Complete cessation of the use of moss peat in horticulture * Restoration of damaged peatlands * Sustainable methods of farming in blanket bogs * Completed inventory of Ireland's peatland resources * Environmental education provided for all sectors in society * Defence strategy for climate change on peatlands * Action plan to conserve peatland biodiversity
* More protected peatlands
VOICE, Voice of Irish Concern for the Environment wishes for:
1. Safe, clean, life-supporting water in our rivers and lakes. The new EU Water Framework Directive heralds a radical change in the way Ireland's rivers, lakes and estuaries are cared for, with a more holistic approach. We would like to see real involvement of environmentalists and communities in a series of "Water Parliaments" throughout the country
2. An end to compulsory fluoridation of our drinking water
3. A more thoughtful approach to Ireland's waste problems. The hierarchy of waste puts Reduce and Re-Use ahead of Recycling
4. A Happy Ecological New Year for everyone - and don't forget to recycle that tree!!