Galway joins global timber conservation programme
Co. Galway has become the first Irish participant in an international programme to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) through partnerships with communities conserving tropical forests.
Galway County Council has partnered with Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Connemara, WoodConnect, Pilot Projects and Greenville Procurement Partners as part of the Cities4Forests Partner Forest Programme.
Cities4Forests is a global alliance of cities acting to conserve, restore and sustainably manage nature, especially the world’s forests, for human wellbeing.
Through the Partner Forest Programme, partners are invited to source tropical hardwood from exemplary community forest conservation enterprises to be used in prominent public infrastructure.
Students from ATU Connemara’s School of Design and Creative Arts visited the Guatemalan community forests of Uaxactún and Carmelita last month, which collectively protect 320,000ac of rainforest.
The visit was part of the students' delivery of a sustainable tropical wood skills project to produce street furniture from conservation timber, which is currently exhibited for the public at the ATU Connemara campus.
The items of street furniture produced will then be permanently installed at various locations throughout the town of Clifden. A number of pieces will also be exhibited at Áras an Chontae in Galway city.
The head of the ATU Connemara campus, Paul Leamy said the public is invited to view the furniture items and learn more about the community enterprises protecting tropical forests and the conservation benefits of using sustainably sourced wood.
The Partner Forest Programme promotes "mutually beneficial" relationships between local governments and faraway forests, Cities4Forests director and founder, and director of Pilot Projects, Scott Francisco said.
The programme helps to promote the knowledge of the sustainable consumption of forest products, protect biodiversity, restore global climate health and support forest communities' livelihoods and wellbeing, he added.
"Tropical timber, particularly from species of hardwood trees that are not generally regarded as commercially viable, can be sustainable as it has impact beyond its material, including on people and the environment when it is sourced correctly and sustainably," he said.
Local and municipal authorities participating in the programme can bring their learnings into their own policy making, daily operations, and management and nurturing of local forests, with benefits for the environment and communities, Francisco said.
The chief executive of Galway County Council, Liam Conneally said: "We are honoured to be the only Irish partner in an international programme that includes New York, Copenhagen, Glasgow, Quito, Paris, Turin and Amsterdam.
"The major learnings from our participation in the programme to date is the necessity of adopting sustainable practices around timber procurement, and how the economic support of community-led businesses in well managed forest areas is one of the proven ways to conserve forests.”
Conneally confirmed that Galway County Council is currently at draft stage in its development of a Green Public Procurement Strategy which includes a process for the sustainable procurement of wood.
