Ecological Highways: A holistic approach to road landscaping is needed to cut the loss in native plants and habitats occuring during road building, an academic conference was told earlier this month.
Lisa Dolan, from the Department of Zoology, University College, Cork, told the conference on Effects of Human Transport on Ecosystems that wildlife crossing structures - where wildlife corridors and roads intersect - should also be included. Speaking about the ecological effects of road run-off, Sarah O'Reilly, also from UCC, said more research was needed to investigate the effects of traffic pollutants on local streams. On marine debris, David Barnes, of the British Antarctic Survey, explained how invasive species are now one of the greatest threats to the Earth's biodiversity. "Marine debris is transporting thousands of organisms daily to parts of the world where they don't naturally occur," he said. Abstracts from the conference, which was held in the Royal Irish Academy, Dawson Street, Dublin are available from the RIA. Tel: 01-6764222.
Waste reduction on target
Inspiring the adults of the future is the main motivation behind the highly successful international Green Schools campaign co-ordinated in Ireland by An Taisce. With more than 1,300 schools now participating, Patricia Oliver from An Taisce is thrilled with the enthusiasm of students and teachers. "There is up to 80 per cent reduction of waste to landfill in some schools and 45 per cent is the average waste reduction. If we could replicate this in the general population, we would have reached our waste reduction targets," she says. Each participating school is assessed on the merits of its environmental programme (tree and flower planting, composting, recycling of school litter, clean-ups, etc) and then given a Green Flag for its efforts. If your school which would like to join, tel: 01-7077067 or e-mail greenschools@antaisce.org
Walking with trees
Groups of walkers from Ulster, Connacht, Munster and Leinster will converge on the hill of Uisneach next Thursday. Just off the R390 between Mullingar and Athlone, the hill has become the focus of tree planting and spiritual gatherings in the last number of years. Individuals on the four "tree walks" will donate native trees to schools en route and highlight the importance of native tree planting. Telephone Dave Breslin at 061-923953.
Animal classes
Six- to 12-year-olds can brush up on their knowledge of native animals in the current Saturday series at the Natural History Museum, Merrion Street, Dublin. Running from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. until the end of the month, the series focuses on birds today, fish next Saturday and insects on April 26th. Also, seven-year-olds and over can find out about birds' eggs in Damien Walshe's talk tomorrow at 3 p.m. Admission free to all events. Tel: 01-6777444 for full calendar details.