The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is calling for the ‘Biosphere Reserves’ status awarded to Killarney, to be immediately removed.
The group has written to the UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) committee, calling on them to remove the town from its list of ‘Biosphere Reserves’.
The Irish Wildlife Trust says it discovered, through a Freedom of Information request, that Kerry County Council withdrew its support shortly after the ‘Biosphere Reserve’ status was awarded in 2017.
The national body understands that no progress has been made towards establishing a management committee for the Killarney Biosphere and no Biosphere Officer has been employed.
The IWT says it appears the project died shortly after this designation was awarded; Killarney national Park and the Macgillycuddy Reeks Mountains are among the areas included under this ‘Biosphere Reserve’ status.
It’s unclear whether UNESCO has been made aware that the project isn’t progressing, according to the IWT, and its calling for the Kerry Biosphere to be removed from the UNESCO website without delay.
IWT campaign officer Pádraic Fogarty says in 2017 they asked UNESCO not to renew the Biosphere Reserve designation, and he claims that the withdrawal of support from Kerry County Council has undermined the UNESCO brand.
