Danger of Burren being loved to death, says Bellamy

LAUNCHING A new conservation trust specifically for the Burren area of Co Clare, the internationally-renowned botanist, Prof David Bellamy, remarked that “today is one of the happiest days of my life”.

He explained: “The Burren is a very, very unique place. It has everything. It is a time capsule of the last 6,000 years. I have been coming here since 1951, but the Burren is in great danger of being loved to death.”

Bellamy said that Burrenbeo, an independent membership-based trust, “offers a ‘greenprint’ for the future development of the Burren and it is being done through the communities here”.

The biggest threat to the Burren is neglect, said co-founder Dr Brendan Dunford, who was speaking last night at the launch of Burrenbeo in Ballyvaughan. The trust will provide a strategic vision for the future of the area.

The trust has already received the backing of a number of high- profile patrons including Seamus Heaney; former chairwoman of the Arts Council, Olive Braiden; Concern chief executive Tom Arnold; and Bishop Willie Walsh of Killaloe.

Dr Dunford said that the effective management of the area can only be done through empowering local communities. “Strategic management and an informed and engaged community are key requirements to sustain conservation, heritage, agriculture and tourism in the Burren.”

Dr Dunford said that the Burren landscape faces the dual threat of “intensification and abandonment”. He said there is also developmental threat on the fringes of the Burren.

“The dangers facing the Burren are not immediate, but no less pernicious for that,” he said. “In Ireland, we only value things when they are gone and we can’t allow the Burren to suffer from continued neglect.”

Currently, a range of different agencies and organisations share responsibility for various aspects of the Burren; however, Dr Dunford believes “there is a real need to enhance integration of activities between them and to ensure that a strong, cohesive and visionary management structure is put in place”.

He said we should not delay protecting the Burren, “given the serious threats – natural and man-made – that are currently encroaching on the landscape”.

Dr Dunford said that the establishment of the trust “is a first for Ireland, with one organisation dedicated towards the conservation of a landscape”.

Dr Dunford said that he hopes that “lovers of the Burren from all over the world will join the trust. Everyone has a contribution to make to the Burren and we hope that the trust will act as a conduit for all of that energy.”

Chairman of Burren IFA Michael Davoren, one of the patrons of the trust, said: “This is a massive day for the Burren . . . The trust builds on the spirit of the old co-operative movement and will have an all-inclusive ground-up approach.”