Family Walk Killaclohane Woods, Co. Kerry on Sunday June 9th at 2pm

kerry | environment | event notice Friday May 31, 2013 11:31 by KERRY SAVE OUR WOODS NETWORK - KERRY SAVE OUR WOODS NETWORK kerrysaveourwoodsnetwork at gmail dot com

Walk to oppose the sale of Coillte Harvesting Rights by the government

As part of a national ‘Walk in the Woods’ Day on Sunday June 9th the Kerry Save Our Woods Network is organising a family walk in the Coillte owned Killaclohane Woods, near Castlemaine, Co. Kerry at 2pm.

The family Walk at Killaclohane Woods includes a walk, music, face painting and treasure hunt. People are invited to bring along a picnic and enjoy the day!!

The walk follows on from the successful action on April 28th (see here ) when the Natural Resources Protection Alliance and the Woodland League mobilised thousands of people at Avondale in Wicklow in a tremendous display of support for keeping Ireland’s forests in public ownership and against the sale of Coillte harvesting rights. This was followed by a similar walk in Kerry organised by Kerry Save Our Woods Network on May 12th. A major national campaign is now taking off around the country. with more walks planned in many other areas.

No other country in Europe has privatised state forestry or harvesting rights. Privatisation of the forests in New Zealand has led to major problems with public access and job losses. In Sweden part privatisation of state forestry was recently reversed and the sector taken back into public ownership. In the UK, recent proposals for the privatisation of state forestry were abandoned after there was enormous public outcry.

Our forests are a key natural resource that can provide green sustainable jobs, and help combat climate change.

The sector employs 12,000 people across the state and has the potential to generate thousands of jobs and a reliable source of income.

Forests also play a huge role in mitigating climate change and regulating the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere. Irish forests stored 2.2 million tonnes of carbon in 2010 alone.

A spokesperson for Kerry Save Our Woods Network said:
“We need to keep the pressure on the government to ensure our Coillte forests in Kerry are not sold off”.

Facebook: Kerry Save Our Woods Network
Email: kerrysaveourwoodsnetwork@gmail.com
Sign the petition at www.woodlandleague.org