Dreaming big – plan to make city an official National Park

The drive to achieve ‘National Park City’ status for Galway will be stepped-up a notch this month when the campaign is officially launched by a cross-sectoral group of ‘champions’ who have thrown their weight behind the project.

Led by veteran environmental activist Brendan Smith, Galway National Park City has already received the backing of President Michael D Higgins who will serve as Patron, as local groups and organisations strive to make Galway a world-leading city in its commitment to protecting the natural environment.

The mission is to have Galway recognised as a city dedicated to sustainability, where citizens benefit from, and are strongly connected to, nature.

For Mr Smith, the campaign is about building on decades of hard work to protect the city’s greenways and waterway and linking up the various efforts already underway to advance a healthier and safer natural environment – uniting as one to make Galway a better place to live.

“I truly believe this could be a real game-changer for the city. We are at a crossroads; we are witnessing the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss and we have seen the outcome of our abuse of nature, whether that’s through the climate crisis or the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Mr Smith, explaining how diseases were spreading from the animal world to humans as a direct result of our mistreatment of nature.

“The National Park City campaign ticks so many boxes in reversing that – it hits the EU targets on climate change, the UN recommendations and what’s in the Programme for Government. This is a real opportunity for Galway,” continued Mr Smith, who is well-known for his work to protect and promote Terryland Forest Park.

Since the campaign to have Galway designated a National Park City was launched in March 2019, work has been underway to secure a long list of ‘champions’ who will advance the cause in the coming months.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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