The Offaly Biosphere
"The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats and biodiversity... that's all there is. That's the whole economy. That's where all the economic activity and jobs come from. These biological systems are the sustaining wealth of the world."
– Gaylord Nelson
Introduction
Ecocide – the destruction of the natural environment by deliberate or negligent human action, has been just as damaging to our Planet (if not more so) than the alarming rise of CO2 and other harmful Greenhouse Gases.
One day, history might rename the 20th Century as the Toxic Millennium. During the last 100 years, the global economic model has given us the biggest environmental hangover that has ever existed on the Planet. No amount of magical Alka Seltzer is going to get rid of this headache!
Throughout the 20th century, industry has unleashed an unrelenting assault on the Earth’s Biosphere. Toxic chemicals, plastics and poisons are literally everywhere and in everything: our water, air, soils, seeds, homes, medicines, industries, schools, cleaning products and on and on.
When talking about Climate Change, the emphasis is often put on the decarbonisation of every area of our lives (reducing our CO2 emissions). At Green Offaly we believe that the restoration of Biodiversity has an equally important role in restoring the climate balance on our local planet.
“Biodiversity, a component of our natural capital, provides climate regulating services for the planet and provides us with the resilience we need in order for people, our economies and society to withstand the climate change shocks that we are already locked into,” and “if we do not protect and restore biodiversity we will fail to meet our climate goals.” – Prof Yvonne Buckley
Extract from the Irish Times ‘Using nature to capture carbon must be recognised fully in Climate Bill – committee told. Thu, Oct 29, 2020, 19:31 Kevin O’Sullivan Environment & Science Editor’
At Green Offaly we are going to bring these different strands of mitigating/adapting actions together under the umbrella of the Offaly Biosphere (a whole systems, sustainable approach to meeting the challenges ahead).
Relevant SDG’s (Sustainable Development Goals). Learn more here.
So what is a Biosphere?
The regions of the surface and atmosphere of the earth or another planet occupied by living organisms. (Oxford language definition)
Imagine someone placed a giant bubble dome over Offaly! Everything contained within it and under it – that is the Offaly Biosphere.
The Offaly Biosphere unites the air, earth, and water elements into one environmental system within which thousands of species, including us humans, have thrived over the millennia.
Our Biosphere is complex, unique, and varied and our Communities and livelihoods are intertwined within it. Some parts of it are in better shape than others. Our Biosphere has undergone some dramatic and potentially irreversible changes due to recent human activity such as peat extraction, intensive farming and the pursuit of plantation forestry. Now this environmental system is under pressure and the time to take action to preserve our natural heritage is now!
Clean air, pure water, intact, healthy soils, an abundance of biodiversity and substantial carbon storage via the rewetting of our peatlands; this is all possible if we come together. The importance of protecting our Biosphere cannot be underrated.
If we look at this map below then you can see where Offaly is heading if runaway Climate Change occurs! Island life anyone?
‘British Isles in 2100’ by Jay Simons via his ‘World in 2100 Series’ on Deviant Art
"Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect mankind."
– Stewart Udall (United States Secretary of the Interior in 1961-1969)
Biosphere Basics – What we need to Protect in order to Ensure Ongoing Life in our Biosphere
If we take the four basic elements outlined below as our starting point, we can begin to see what we need to address and protect at all costs, because if these needs are compromised then so is our survival! Food, shelter, air and water – the four basic needs human beings need to survive according to NASA.
1. Shelter
• Our building stock
• Passive technology
• Retrofitting
• Sustainable clothing
• Renewable energies
• Heating systems
2. Food
• Soil health
• Contaminants
• Pesticides
• Seeds
• Crop diversity
• Regenerative agriculture
3. Water
• Water quality
• Pollutants
• Chemicals
• Contamination
• Flood Mitigation
• Natural Flood Managements
• Biodiversity
4. Air
• CO2 Emissions
• Nitrous Oxide
• Methane Emissions
• Industry Pollutants
Protecting Our Biosphere
We can’t change the world directly but here in Offaly we can preserve, protect and enhance the basic health of our own amazing Biosphere. In Offaly we are blessed with a truly important Biosphere when it comes to Climate Action due to our 21% peatland land bank and our vast agricultural heritage. This puts us on the front line of the Climate Transition and, with careful planning, affords us a wealth of opportunity to make a significant contribution to the health of the Planet while benefiting directly ourselves.
Throughout 2021, Green Offaly will be working on an exciting study to assess the potential of Offaly’s Peatlands to become a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
“Biosphere reserves are ‘learning places for sustainable development’. They are sites for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and management of biodiversity.” – Unesco
As part of this study we will be visiting Offaly’s Peatland Communities and hosting a series of Community Conversations with stakeholders. We will introduce the concept of a Biosphere Reserve, examine what is involved, what it could mean for your Community and explore ways in which Offaly Communities could benefit environmentally and economically from becoming a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
This project is being funded under the Just Transition Fund, delivered by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. The Just Transition Fund (JTF) is a key pillar of the government’s just transition plan for the Midlands region.
For more information on the topics above see:
Just Transition Fund from Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Biosphere Reserves from UNESCO
Coastal Flooding and Climate Change in Ireland from GAMMA
Ireland’s tree-planting policies are bad news for biodiversity from The Journal