A plan to make the Lough Ree area of the midlands Europe's first "phosphate-free zone" is being formulated, an environmental summer school in Lanesboro, Co Longford, was told at the weekend.
The plan is being put forward in a major environmental study of the lake and its surrounds by an Athlone-based company.
One of the consultants, Ms Cathryn Hannon, told the Lough Ree Environmental Summer School and Arts Festival that such a plan would protect and improve the water quality of the lake, through which the Shannon flows.
"The idea being put forward in the study is that there should be a ban on the use of phosphates within a proscribed area around the shores of the lake," she said.
She said the idea will be put forward to the three county councils - Roscommon, Westmeath and Longford - which commissioned the study.
The imposition of such a zone could be put into place with the aid of EU environmental schemes, such as the Rural Environment Protection Scheme and SACs, the special areas of conservation designated by the EU.
Mr Dick Warner, the broadcaster and environmentalist, urged the people of the midlands to push the Government to make the Lough Ree area a national park. He said most of the existing national parks comprised upland blanket bog and the time had come to acknowledge the unique habitat around the lake.
"It would be quite an easy decision to make because the State or State agencies own a great deal of the shoreline and the islands and it would make great sense from an environmental and tourism point of view," he said.