The EUROPARC
Federation Conference 2015
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| Philip Geoghegan and Tom Byrne at the EUROPARC conference. |
Regensburg, a city in the south-east of Germany and a UNESCO world
heritage site, houses the headquarters of the EUROPARC Federation and was the
venue for this year's EUROPARC conference. The EUROPARC Federation is a group
which represents all the national parks and protected areas right across Europe
with alliances around the world.
The annual EUROPARC conference is where member
organisations meet to share experiences and information. The purpose of the
Federation is ‘Helping Protected Areas to fulfil their role through practical
activities on the ground as well as influencing policy’ and the annual
conference is a two to three day programme of presentations, workshops and opportunities
for networking.
Wicklow Upland Council’s membership of
the Federation represents something of a hybrid within the organisation which
has almost 400 members, most of which own or manage Protected Areas across
Europe. The Wicklow Uplands includes protected areas, a national park, a living
landscape with active farming, a unique geological structure, remarkable Stone
Age remains, hugely important religious sites, a recreational playground next
to a large urban population centre and a necklace of supporting towns and villages
on its perimeter. Few EUROPARC members can match this diversity, although the
sheer scale of some of the wilderness areas is mind-blowing.
So, what could be gained by spending a
few days sharing views and perspectives with our fellow European counterparts but
to broaden both our and their perceptions and knowledge. Wicklow Uplands
Council was represented by Tom Byrne, Vice Chairman, a dedicated and committed
farmer and Philip Geoghegan, ex-Chairman, a lifelong advocate for adequate
protection and flourishing of Uplands life and landscape.
The conference was opened by the EUROPARC President Ignace Schops
who spoke on ‘Protected Areas in a changing environment’ - climate change being
the buzz word. Jonathan Hughes, CEO Scottish Wildlife Trust, IUCN Council, World
National Capital Forum, followed with his address. He quoted the 2012 report
from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN which states that ‘by 2050
agricultural production will grow by about 60% with increasing wealth projected
to boost annual demand for meat products by 76%.’ Alberto Arroyo Schnell,
Senior Policy Advisor with the World Wildlife Fund spoke on Protected Areas in
a changing policy framework and ‘Protected Areas - the change from within’ was
discussed by Dr. Laura Meagher. All presentations can be found on www.europarc.org.
The workshop attended by Tom Byrne was titled ’Seeds of Growth,
Multi-functionality of Agriculture in Protected Areas’. There was a focus on farming in protected
areas and the challenge of maintaining diverse communities in these areas. Commercial
farming is often at odds with protected area management and the constraints now
placed on these areas make it economically unsustainable. Support is needed to
farm these areas within the constraints imposed.
Philip Geoghegan noted that the potential
of sustainable tourism is a key theme for protected areas which many of the
EUROPARC presentations centred on. The Directorate-General for Growth at the
European Commission has a ‘Guide on
European Funding for the Tourism Sector (2014-2020)’ and EUROPARC has produced
a LIFE+ supported guide: ‘Practical,
Profitable, Protected - A starter guide to developing tourism in protected
areas’ which are resources that require further attention by Wicklow
Uplands Council. The European Network on
Outdoor Sports may also be of benefit.
Most of the EUROPARC member organisations
bring with them very well produced brochures, booklets and guides to the nature
of their area, something which Wicklow Uplands Council could emulate to our advantage.
This
supports the idea of sharpening the identity of Wicklow Uplands Council as an
outgoing, representative, innovative contributor to a better future for those
who live and work in the uplands. It is
already an organisation which has established a national identity and has been
seriously influential on many environmental and agricultural matters. Work on establishing a stronger local presence
is already under way and our own existing shared expertise could drive good
capital funding towards new environmental, tourism and recreational initiatives
for the area.
Philip Geoghegan also noted that BioEUParks is a group of 10 partner
parks contributing their expertise on energy renewal through biomass. He
recognised that Coillte is the major actor here in Wicklow but suggested that we
should, really examine the further productive capacity of fuel
supply in the Wicklow Uplands - cultivation of energy crops, recovery and
transportation of wood wastes, forest residues, agricultural wastes, etc. Our own Sustainable Energy Ireland could
advise where new productive investment might begin.
Tom Byrne and Philip Geoghegan advised
that Wicklow Uplands Council’s longstanding and continuing membership of
EUROPARC is very worthwhile in letting us see how other comparable areas have
succeeded in improving their local economies. We have the same opportunities to
search out the supports available and our colleagues in Europe will always be
helpful and take pride in showing their way of engaging and prospering at a local
level and we can equally offer them the lessons learned from our experience
here in Wicklow.
Authors: Tom Byrne and Philip Geoghegan, Board Directors of
Wicklow Uplands Council.
