THE organisers of a successful campaign to halt plans for the mechanical harvesting of 1,860 acres of kelp seaweed in Bantry Bay have made an appeal to the public to help clear legal fees, with a debt of €30,000 outstanding.
The call was made at the first public showing in West Cork of a film detailing the ground-breaking campaign, called Forest Beneath the Waves, which was shown at the Cecas climate action centre in Leap, last weekend.
The documentary follows the Bantry-based campaign to halt industrial-scale extraction of kelp in Bantry Bay, which kicked off after the community was alerted to the scale of the proposed plan, following an RTÉ Eco Eye programme, broadcast in February 2017.
Karin Dubsy, who appeared on the programme, was in Leap on Saturday night to discuss the campaign, in a Q&A session, following the screening of the 52-minute movie.
She revealed that thousands of kilometres of kelp forests – a crucial element of the sea’s biodiversity – are being lost around the world each year to climate change.
The movie, which was made by American company Habitat Productions, outlined the huge amount of species in Bantry Bay that make their home in the kelp forests, and also use them for cover from predators, and for reproduction.
Paula Sprenger and Carter McCormick of Habitat told The Southern Star this week that they hope the film ‘inspires responsible management of these beautiful ecosystems, and shines light on the ambiguity of Irish legislation in regards to marine development.’
They said they have submitted it to a number of film festivals both in Ireland and abroad. The next screening is at Achill Island Film Festival in May. The eventual goal is to have the film distributed on streaming services and/or on television.
Last month, the licence for harvesting, given to Tralee firm BioAtlantis, lapsed – 10 years after it was granted in 2014.
The film follows the community campaign that emerged in Bantry in West Cork to halt industrial extraction of the kelp, seeing it as a major threat to the local marine environment.
The case went to the High and Supreme courts, where campaigners argued the forest was a critical ecosystem for Bantry’s marine life.
The licence was never put to use.
The film also features local activist Dolf D’hondt who trained as a diver so he could film the kelp forests. He told The Southern Star after the screening that while the majority of legal costs for the court cases had now been paid, there was still an outstanding debt of €30,000.
Supporters can donate at the campaign’s pop-up shop in Bantry on any Friday, or at the ‘donate’ button on the bantrybaykelpforest.com home page.
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