Naturally Wild Festivals
Pilot Project
Naturally Wild Festivals is an Arts Council funded pilot project a pilot project funded by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon supporting the nine festival organisations in their journey towards becoming more sustainable. These festivals have committed to putting in place robust environmental policies, and working with project co-ordinator Dr David Teevan and festival environmental specialists Native Events, to develop a fit-for-purpose carbon calculator, which will enable the festivals to understand and reduce their environmental impact. While carbon zero festival making is the long-term objective of the consortium festivals, in the immediate future becoming carbon neutral represents an achievable goal.
To achieve this end Naturally Wild Festival are delighted to be partnering with Lough Grainey Nature Sanctuary, a not-for-profit environmental organisation and registered charity dedicated to protection of biodiversity, rewilding, restoring the oak forest, and nature education. Together these organisations are working to develop a practical way for the festivals and other Irish arts organisations to compensate for unavoidable carbon emissions, by contributing directly to Lough Grainey Nature Sanctuary’s rewilding, tree planting, and nature education projects. (details below)
To this end, Lough Grainey Nature Sanctuary in consultation with Naturally Wild Festivals Consortium and Native Events has developed this easy to use portal, which offers an environmental investment option to offset carbon emissions. To use the portal an organisation must first calculate its carbon footprint in kgCO2e. This figure is then entered in the form below, which calculates the Euro amount required to compensate for the organisation’s carbon emissions.
As part of this pilot project Naturally Wild Festivals are working with Native Events to develop a sectorally appropriate carbon calculation methodology. For more information on this process , email – Naturally Wild Festivals
How does the Lough Grainey Nature Sanctuary CO2 offsetting work?
Step One:
An organisation wishing to offset their carbon footprint by making a voluntary environmental investment donation to Lough Grainey Nature Sanctuary must first calculate their carbon emisions.
Step Two:
The festival’s kgCO2e emissions figure, is entered into the carbon offset calculator below; the festival records the resulting figure in euros. This is the cost based on the entered emissions amount and the Irish Carbon tax. It is recommended that the organisation first create a strategy to reduce their emissions going forward, thus reducing this figure.
It is also recommended that the organisation aim to offset 50% of their emissions by making a voluntary environmental investment donation in the amount of 50% of their calculated cost. It is envisaged that the amount of emissions to be offset via the voluntary environmental investment donation will reduce further once the participating organisations implement their new strategy for reducing emissions.
Step Three:
The festival receives a confirmation email with payment details and makes the payment based on the resulting figure, following the instructions provided below.
The festival will receive a receipt in the form of a certificate.
FAQ
Who can use the LGNS Carbon offset portal?
The portal is open to artists, arts workers and arts and cultural organisations who want to offset their unavoidable carbon emissions.
How can I calculate the kgCO2e emissions figure for my activity/organisation?
There are tools available online to enable individuals and organisations calculate their kgCO2e emissions figure. For arts organisations looking to begin this process we recommend spending time learning from the websites of Creative Carbon Scotland and Julies Bicycle. Both these organisations offer free carbon calculation tools and support services.
In particular, the following report on carbon offsetting published by Julies Bicycle in the UK can provide further information: https://juliesbicycle.com/resource/briefing-report-putting-a-price-on-carbon/. Some key comments from that report include the following points: offsetting alone is not the answer; offsetting is not a magic solution and should always be the last step in your climate strategy, once all other options of cutting your carbon footprint have been exhausted.
For those wishing to use the portal to offset air travel online the IAA emissions calculator can be used to calculate the kgCO2 of their journey.
For further enquiries contact Naturally Wild Festivals
What projects are supported?
The projects of Lough Grainey Nature Sanctuary include the following: rewilding, native tree planting and natural regeneration of native woodlands and nature education.
Rewilding
Rewilding is an exciting and inspiring approach to ecosystem restoration where Nature is given the opportunity to heal and restore itself. Rewilding has been recognized as a key solution in the fight against climate change.
It helps build climate resilience due to the carbon sequestration potential of undisturbed wild land and naturally regenerating forests, wetlands, and species-rich grasslands. For more information and research on rewilding and carbon sequestration, see this Rewilding Britain’s report on Rewilding and Climate Breakdown
Rewilding has also been recognised as a powerful tool for tackling the biodiversity crisis and reversing the loss of biodiversity [read report]
It is something we believe in and are currently undertaking here at Lough Grainey Nature Sanctuary. As part of our rewilding project we support natural regeneration of native woodlands, wetlands and species-rich grasslands.
Planting native trees and natural woodland regeneration
Native oak woodlands like the ones still present at Lough Grainey valley are a hugely important part of Ireland’s natural heritage. They are also a vital part of Ireland’s climate mitigation measures. We are working on protecting the existing trees and restoring woodlands through planting and natural regeneration.
Natural regeneration of saplings is encouraged first and foremost. Planted saplings are protected by tree shelters that are later recycled once the trees establish and mature.
Nature Education
We believe nature education is vital for children and can help them understand the direct link between how we care for Nature and biodiversity and what happens to our climate.
LGNS offers workshops to primary schools about biodiversity, and will be offering Forest School sessions from 2023. Forest School has been shown to build confidence, improve physical and emotional well-being, and social and communications skills. It also helps build empathy for the natural world, as well as allowing experiences of joy and freedom.
Do you have any questions regarding the way this pilot project works?
Our team is happy to advise you. If you have questions feel free to contact the project manager, David Teevan of Teevan and Associates at [davidjteevan@gmail.com]. If you have questions about the projects of Lough Grainey Nature Sanctuary, feel free to contact Marina Levitina, at [marina@loughgrainey.org].
