Caibidil:
- Planting more trees in our rural towns and villages can help mitigate the effects of climate change. A big effort should be made to plant more in towns with a low tree count . As well as removing carbon from the air, trees also provide shade during warm weather, help prevent excess run off of water into our rivers, and can help prevent damage to homes during storms by acting as a wind barrier.
- Rewilding native forests and bogs can help boost biodiversity as well as help slow the run off of water into our streams and rivers therefore helping reducing the risk of flooding in our villages and towns. They also store large amounts of carbon. Supporting the re-wilding of our landscape will bring many benefits to the county.
- Working with and incentivising farmers will be important for the re-wiliding of our landscape.
- Promoting the health benefits of walking and cycling, and improving cycling and walking infrastructure in our towns can help towards reducing car emmissions.
- Having car free zones outside schools during drop-off and pick up times have proven to be popular in Dublin and their introduction in Kilkenny would be a big positive. Idling car emit excess emissions as well as increase air pollution at schools during drop off and pick up times.
- Micro-Forests, or Miyawaki Forests, are an increasingly popular way of planting trees in urban areas across Europe. The technique used to plant micro forests allows the trees to grow faster than traditional methods, and allow the trees to take more carbon from the atmosphere than through traditional methods. They are great for biodiversity also. They would be a good addition to suitable areas of Kilkenny city.