It's time to blaze a trail
Ireland's first National Trails Day goes ahead tomorrow with guided walks, mountain biking and orienteering events throughout the country. The aim of the day is to create greater awareness of Ireland's network of trails. The events are organised by the National Trails Office together with Coillte, Fáilte Ireland, Comhairle na Tuaithe and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
Events in Dublin include a hike in Carrighgolligan Wood (near Kilternan) at 2.30pm tomorrow, a walk in the Phoenix Park, starting from the Parkgate St entrance at 2pm and a mountain hike, starting from the Tibradden Forest car park at 2.30pm. In Kerry, walks include one on the Kerry Way, starting at 1.30pm from Glenbeigh village. In Donegal, there will be walks on Arranmore Island with ferries leaving from Burtonport (tel: 087-7418153 for more details). In Galway, events include walks from An Spidéal pier at 1pm and an introduction to mountain biking on the Coillte Derroura mountain bike trails. See www.nationaltrailsday.ie for full county-by-county lists of events.
See the wood from the trees
Just Forests, the non-governmental organisation which promotes sustainable forestry, is calling on the Government to set up a policy on purchasing timber from sustainable forests.
Tom Roche from Just Forests says: "It is time for Ireland to halt the use of illegally logged timber in public buildings." Pointing to the British Timber Procurement Policy introduced in 2000 as a model, Roche adds that such policies are also in line with EU Green Procurement Policy, the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade initiative and international opinion on the importance of forests in fighting climate change. See www.justforests.org
Why organic has the edge
Organic fruit and vegetables contain up to 10 per cent more phytonutrients than conventional grown fruit and vegetables, according to new research.
"Basically, what this means is that eating five portions of organic fruit and vegetables will give you the same amount of these phytonutrients as eating five and half portions of non-organic fruit and vegetables," says Kirsten Brandt, researcher from Newcastle University in England. "It's not a huge difference," she says but it gives people a choice.
The key differences were due to the different amounts of fertilizers used by organic and non-organic growers. "The important point to make is that we can only get these phytonutrients from fruit and vegetables so whether you choose organic or not is a secondary issue." Brandt presented her findings at the Irish Organic Farmers and Growers conference last weekend.
Learn with stars in your eyes
Interested in knowing how the Big Bang formed the universe or what the multi-billion euro particle accelerator (the Large Hadron Collider) in Switzerland will prove or disprove? Or do you simply want to know your way around the night sky?
If so, check out the Astronomy for Beginners evening courses which will be held in Cork, Limerick, Athlone, Co Westmeath, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, Belfast, Tralee, Co Kerry and Dublin, starting on Thursday, October 9. See www.astronomy.ie for full details.
