Ireland: Lack of allotments and community gardens highlighted
“Ireland and Northern Ireland currently offers one of the fewest number of allotments and community gardens throughout Europe,” she said.
By Caroline Allen
Agiland
December 27, 2022
Excerpt:
The lack of allotments and community gardens on the island of Ireland was highlighted recently, at a meeting of community growers in Co. Carlow.
The gathering emphasised the role that growing our own food plays in helping adapt to climate change and in reducing biodiversity loss.
The event, organised by Community Gardens Ireland and Social Farms & Gardens Northern Ireland, took place in An Gairdín Beo, a community garden based in the centre of Carlow, and the Delta Sensory Gardens, also in Carlow.
It was attended by over 30 community growers from all over the island of Ireland and was for a project called Growing Resilience Across Ireland (GRÁ Ireland), funded through the Community Foundation for Ireland.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said that urban agriculture initiatives, such as community gardening, assist with reducing greenhouse gases, boosting urban food security, improving biodiversity and adapting to climate change impacts.
The Scottish government has highlighted the reduction in carbon emissions from community growing, with estimates of between 2kg and 5kg of carbon equivalent for every kilogram of vegetable produced.
Community growing spaces also help contribute towards the United Nation’s sustainable development goals, including good health and wellbeing, sustainable cities and communities, and responsible consumption and production, the meeting stressed.
