Gearagh needs management plan say Greens

LOCAL election candidate and Green Party representative for Macroom Harriet Burgess has written an open letter to the chief executive of the ESB, Paddy Hayes, as well as Minister Eamon Ryan and Minister Malcolm Noonan, requesting a management plan be published on the Gearagh without any further delay.

Speaking in her letter, Candidate Harriet Burgess stated:

‘The ESB committed in 2017 to developing a management plan for the Gearagh. Seven years on, no such management plan has been published,’ she said.

‘This delay is egregious, and wholly unacceptable on the part of a semi-State agency, particularly in a time of biodiversity crisis.’

She said the Gearagh represents a significant and unique rare expanse of native Irish woodland, and is home to a number of rare species of flora and fauna.

‘One would assume that such a large expanse of surviving native Irish woodland forest would be of primary importance to the Irish State. Locals are extremely concerned about the management of the forest and I have raised the need for a management plan to be published immediately, for there to be an active role by the NPWS in the day-to-day implementation of any such plan, and that a public consultation must be arranged by the ESB.’