Tuatha of Terryland Forest Park
‘Bringing the Jungle back into our Urban Lives’
Date: Saturday 07 October
Time: 9.30am, Duration approx. 2.5 hours
Meeting Point Woodquay Pitch
This event is FREE and open to the public. Pre-booking is advised as places are limited.
About
Enjoy a guided walk through a landscape of woods, meadows and wetlands in the heart of Galway city and find out why we need to integrate nature into our urban infrastructure.
In an increasingly urbanised planet, humanity’s growing disconnect with the natural world has led to the climate and biodiversity catastrophe that threaten its very existence. Hence there is an urgent need now to redesign our cities in order to integrate nature into urban infrastructure. Brendan Smith will provide an informative walk along the banks of the River Corrib and into the Terryland Forest Park to show how this can be achieved. He will enlighten participants on the origins of Ireland’s largest community-local government urban woodland, on how since its inception in 2000 it has served as a 'carbon sink’, a wildlife sanctuary, an ecological corridor, an Outdoor Classroom and an outdoor passive recreational facility. Brendan will also talk about its built heritage, on how it can serve as a template for other cities but also about the threats that it faces and what needs to be done to enhance its future.
Founder of the Galway National Park City initiative, Brendan Smith has been a community and environmental activist for over four decades, involved in programmes to protect and enhance biodiversity in urban Galway. He spearheaded the campaign in 1995 that lead to the opening in 2000 of the council-owned Terryland Forest Park, an area of over 120 acres comprising wood, wetlands, waterways and pasture. Brendan is a member of the EcoEd4All team, which includes renowned environmentalist Duncan Stewart, that has developed the first Sustainability educational modular programme for Transition Year students in Ireland.
Tuatha of Terryland Forest Park, Galway National Park City