DUBLIN, GALWAY AND WATERFORD FLY THE GREEN FLAG FOR IRELAND

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International accreditation for park excellence in Ireland has jumped again for 2020, during a season which has seen a massive increase in park visitors, with a surge in urban park Green Flag accreditations across cities in Dublin, Galway and Waterford.

There has also been a further expansion of the scheme to include new types of public green spaces – Waterford Greenway received accreditation, while Cavan’s UNESCO Global Geopark become a Green Flag Award Site for the first time.

Numbers of International Green Flag Award Sites for the best parks and gardens in Ireland surged again in 2020. New green flag parks and gardens, accredited by teams of trained volunteer judges, included for the first-time sites from Cavan, Donegal, and Waterford.

The Waterford Greenway was accredited with an International Green Flag award for 2020.

Only awarded for exceeding tough environmental standards in green space management, and excellence of visitor attractions – the Green Flag Award for Parks is the mark of a quality park or green space and is recognised throughout the world. A total of 84 Irish Parks and Gardens from across the Republic of Ireland received their 2020 Green Flags.

From the 15 countries whose parks met the standard once again more Green Flag Awards were secured by Irish parks and gardens than by any country, other than the UK where the scheme originated in 1996.

Participating countries for 2020 included Republic of Ireland, Australia, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, UK and the USA.

This year has seen the number of Green Flag Community Award sites in Ireland more than double from last year. Additional community run parks and gardens were accredited in Carlow, Donegal, Fingal – North County Dublin, Kildare, Galway, Roscommon, and Wexford.

The scheme has been extended to include community initiatives such as community gardens and parks, and Tidy Towns projects. In Ireland the Green Flag Community Award Scheme is co-ordinated with the support of the Department of Rural and Community Development.

For further information about the Green Flag Award or other programmes run by An Taisce Environmental Education e-mail Robert Moss.