Heritage & Habitat news in brief
Enfo under pressure
More than 40,000 live wild mammals and 1.5 million live reptiles were imported into Europe between 2002 and 2006. While zoos account for a significant portion of this, the private trade in exotic creatures has also grown hugely, all of which is regulated by the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations. To find out more, visit the current exhibition on International Wildlife Trade in Enfo, 17 St Andrew Street, Dublin 2. Users of the free environmental resource library and children’s play zone in Enfo should also make their voices heard. The centre, whose hours have already been cut back (it’s no longer open on Saturdays), is under review. See enfo.ie.
Green office politics
Between 37 and 48 per cent of businesses claim they would support employee car-pooling and provide tax-free bicycles to interested staff members in a new survey. Over half said recycling paper and organic matter was the most important environmental action that could be taken in offices. The survey was carried out by the new environmental magazine Green Ireland(published by Brian Coogan, right), which will be launched at the Energy Show in the RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin next week. To find out more or to book a place in seminars, see the website sei.ie.
Counting the cost
The second edition of Ecological Debt(Pluto Press) by UK environmentalist Andrew Simms has just been published. The updated book explores how the global wealth gap was built on ecological debts that the world's poorest are now paying for. According to Simms, the new focus will have to be on maximising local resilience to external economic and environmental shocks and shifting our consumption patterns into a state of "dynamic equilibrium" with the world of natural resources. His suggestions include building a food culture, rationing petrol, agreeing an effective global climate deal and an oil-depletion protocol. Easier said than done.
ECOWEB
justoneearth.ie
A new site from Friends of the Earth launched on Wednesday to coincide with Earth Day. The site explores the causes and consequences of climate change with videos, quizzes and a carbon calculator.
