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Ireland signs and ratifies European Landscape Convention

For Landscape Alliance Ireland the fact that Ireland signed and ratified the European Landscape Convention in March 2002 marked the end of a long and vigorous campaign initiated by Terry O'Regan of Landscape Alliance Ireland in 1994 when he first proposed the concept of both a National and European Landscape Policy.

Over the years of the campaign which involved lobbying and landscape fora a productive partnership developed between Landscape Alliance Ireland, the Department of Environment and Local Government and the Heritage Council.

The government and the Heritage Council provided financial assistance to Landscape Alliance Ireland to participate in the development of the European Landscape Convention by the congress local and regional authorities of Europe within the Council of Europe.

As delegate to the signatory conference in Florence in 2001 Terry O'Regan produced a detailed report for the Irish government explaining the benefits that would arise if Ireland signed and ratified the convention.

On receipt of this report we understand that the Department of Environment and Local Government issued a memorandum to all other government departments to establish if there were any objections to the convention amongst all interested departments.

We believe that the fact that Ireland has now signed and ratified the convention indicates that there was unanimity at government level with regard to the value and relevance of the European Landscape Convention.

There has been a growing awareness of the need to address the management of our landscape in a coordinated way in Ireland particularly over the past five years responding to a number of acrimonious disputes with regard to developments which were seen as damaging to our landscape. Many of the measures legislative and otherwise that have been put in place would effectively commence the process of the implementation of the European Landscape Convention in Ireland.

Landscape Alliance Ireland believes that there is still a challenging and difficult road ahead and sees great merit in the partnership approach offered through a shared implementation of the European Landscape Convention across Europe".

Landscape Alliance Ireland