Horizons

Ideas for nurturing the Irish landscape:A national landscape strategy and a Landscape Ireland Act are among the proposals launched by the Heritage Council this week.

It suggests that legislation would encourage co-operation between communities and local and national government. The Heritage Council cites community involvement in landscape management in places like Julianstown, Co Meath, Bere Island, Co Cork, the Wicklow Uplands and the Burren as examples of how people can share a vision of the landscape that surrounds them. See heritagecouncil.ie for more details.

Christmas markets with a green twist

The National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin, is hosting a seasonal market tomorrow week, from noon. Musicians from Trinity Orchestra will entertain visitors; children can also visit Santa. Sonairte, the National Ecology Centre, near Laytown, Co Meath, is hosting markets each Sunday before Christmas (10am-4pm on December 5th, 12th and 19th; check before travelling at 087-2354119). Specialities include bread, cakes, duck eggs and organic vegetables, as well as crafts. Visitors can also walk through the organic gardens and along the nature trail. See sonairte.ie.

Snow joke: get snapping the energy of nature

The snow should provide photographers with wonderful scenes to enter in the Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland’s fifth photo competition. This year’s theme is the energy of nature; entries from amateurs will be assessed on picture quality, composition and caption. The closing date is December 31st. Entry forms from http://tinyurl.com/esaiphotocomp. See esaiweb.org for more.

ECOWEB

eea.europa.eu

Check out the new Environment State and Outlook Report, from the European Environment Agency. Ireland’s contribution to it is also at epa.ie/environmentinfocus.