Horizons

International experts on public health, climate change and wildlife conservation will meet in Galway city from February 25th to 28th for the second international Conference on Health and Biodiversity (Cohab 2), writes Sylvia Thompson.

The impact of change

The conference, which is led by a group of United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations, will hear about how biodiversity loss influences the spread of diseases such as West Nile virus, Lyme disease, avian influenza and the ebola virus. Members of the indigenous Inuit and Gwich'in tribes, from the Arctic, and the Masai from Kenya will explain how climate change threatens their health, culture and livelihoods.

The closing session of the conference will look at how the future sustainability of Europe's economy and the health of its population will be affected by biodiversity loss and climate change. For more details, see www.cohabnet.org

Food crops v energy crops

The potential competition between land use for food and land use for energy crops will be one of the timely topics at a one-day conference organised by Teagasc and the Irish Bioenergy Association (Irbea) on Tuesday in the Tullamore Court Hotel, Tullamore, Co Offaly.

The Swedish experience of running buses on ethanol, the current limited biofuel production in Ireland, the potential use of animal byproducts for anaerobic digestion and hemp as a renewable resource for construction will also be discussed. For more information see www.teagasc.ieand www.irbea.orgor call 059-9183483.

The future for animals

"Conservation or Extinction: Mammals in a Changing World" is the theme of the current public lecture series held in the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin. Next week, Dr Colin Lawton from NUI Galway will speak about squirrel conservation.

Subsequent talks will be on bat conservation, whales and dolphins and the red deer in Killarney National Park. The free talks are held on Wednesdays at 1pm and 6.30pm.

Also, Dr David Archibald from the San Diego State University in California will give the Darwin Day lecture tomorrow at 3pm in the same venue. See www.museum.ieor call 01-6486332.

Meanwhile, a series of talks on the history of cinemas and cinema-going in Dublin will be held in Dublin City Public Libraries in association with the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival this month. See www.dublincitypubliclibraries.ieor call 01-6744842 for more details.

Heritage grant deadline

Nature conservation groups, local authorities, colleges and businesses seeking grants from the Irish Heritage Council's Biodiversity Fund 2008 should note that Friday, February 15th is the closing date for receipt of completed applications.

The Heritage Council states that projects that help manage sites which support threatened or vulnerable species will be given priority. See www.heritagecouncil.ieor tel: 056-7770777 for more details.

Ecoweb

[ www.dublincity.ie ]

Check out Dublin City Council's draft Climate Change Strategy on this site. Submissions from members of the public and businesses on the draft must be made by 4pm on February 22nd.