Tag Archives: burren geopark

IRELAND’S national tourism body has launched a strategy to leverage the popularity of Ireland’s most popular outdoor attraction and increase the dividend to north Clare. Fáilte Ireland’s plan launched on Wednesday aims to drive and sustain tourism in the Burren and Cliffs of Moher by extending the tourism season and spreading business across all parts of the region over the next five years. Entitled the ‘Visitor Experience Development Plan for the Burren and Cliffs of Moher’, the focus of the plan builds on a number of projects that will help distribute visitors more evenly across the region and make it easier for the visitor to enjoy the world-class experiences available. Projects include the Burren Discovery Trail – a new touring route for visitors; the upgrade of a 2km Cliff Walk at the Cliffs of Moher; and a new ‘Be a Custodian for a Day’ online industry training programme to promote responsible tourism.” Key stakeholders in the area and the local …

THE Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark will mark Earth Science Week 2014 in October by hosting a series of events. Earth Science week was initiated in 1998 by the American Geosciences Institute which has been holding events in the third week of October ever since. Geological associations and institutes around the world now participate to promote awareness and education of all aspects of Earth Science. Among the events being hosted by the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark is a fieldtrip for university students looking at climate change in the rocks of the Burren.  There will also be a water tracing project for transition year students from Lisdoonvarna Secondary School, which is being supported by the Clare Caving Club, the Geological Survey of Ireland and Clare County Council.

The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark has been named in the longlist for the 2014 World Responsible Tourism Awards for the second year running. Over 200 tourism organisations, initiatives and businesses from throughout the world have been selected for the next stage of the Awards across 11 categories. The Geopark features in the ‘Best Destination’ category and is one of 20 destinations that were chosen from hundreds of entries. Other named destinations in the same category include The Lake District in Cumbria (UK), Arizona (USA), Reykjavik, Cyprus, Guatemala, V&A Waterfront in Cape Town (South Africa), Aruba, Pahuatlan (Mexico) and Colorado (USA). Sponsored by the Sultanate of Oman Ministry of Tourism and hosted by responsibletravel.com and ICRT (International Centre for Responsible Tourism), the World Responsible Tourism Awards the most exciting and enduring responsible holiday experiences in the world. The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark will be seeking to make this year’s shortlist for a second consecutive year when it is announced …

A PALAEONTOLOGIST who lived and worked in North Clare is among a team of scientists whose research, published this week, suggests that all dinosaurs had feathers. The evidence presented by Dr Maria McNamara and her colleagues changes the previously-accepted hypothesis that only one group of dinosaurs had feathers. Dr McNamara is a palaeontologist in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at University College Cork. From Clonmel, she previously lived in Moymore and was employed as a geologist in the Burren Geopark, where she worked with about 20 primary schools, the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre and the Burren Outdoor Education Centre. Dr McNamara was approached over a year ago, while working in the University of Bristol, with dinosaur fossil specimens from a site in Siberia. She has been key to discovering the first-ever example of a primitive plant-eating dinosaur with feathers and scales. Previously, only advanced flesh-eating dinosaurs were known to have had feathers, so this new find …

THE management and promotion of the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark as a sustainable destination has been officially recognised by one of the world’s foremost tourism and travel award schemes. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has confirmed the Geopark is one of 18 finalists for its 2014 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, just two months after the Clare destination was shortlisted for a top honour in the 2013 World Responsible Tourism Awards. The Tourism for Tomorrow Awards are one of the highest accolades in the global travel and tourism industry, recognising sustainable tourism best practices in businesses and destinations worldwide, ranging from local destinations to global hotel groups, international airlines, luxury tour operators and small eco-lodges. Award applications were received this year from 56 countries, representing all continents. The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark has been shortlisted alongside Bonito (Brazil) and Temes SA in Costa Navarino (Greece) as Destination Award finalists for “showing commitment to supporting and …

WHILE recent storms have demonstrated how the weather and power of the Atlantic Ocean can have a devastating impact on Ireland’s coastline, a new series of lectures will examine how the landscape of the Burren region has changed over millions of years, due to floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and ice ages. The Stone Water and Ice: Understanding the Burren Landscape evening courses, hosted by the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark and the Burren Outdoor Education Centre, take place between February 13 and March 13. Among the keynote speakers will be Dr John Murray of NUI Galway’s Earth and Ocean Science Department; geologist, Dr Eamon Doyle, and the Burren Outdoor Education Centre’s head of field studies, Colin Bunce. “The geology of the Burren and the dramatic changes experienced by the landscape of the region down through the millennia form the basis for the introductory geology course for adults,” explained Dr Doyle. “The underlying geology of the Burren holds many fascinating clues …

A MAJOR international conference focusing on sustainable destination development through partnership, balancing conservation and tourism will be held in the county later this month. The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark LIFE programme will host the conference at The Falls Hotel and Spa, Ennistymon on October 17 and 18. The event will feature contributions from leading local, national and international experts on sustainable tourism, including representatives of Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism (France), Solimar International (USA), Cultural Site Research and Management (USA), Tourism Ireland, the Office of Public Works and Fáilte Ireland (Ireland). The conference announcement comes just days after the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark was shortlisted in the Best Destination for Responsible Tourism category of the 10th annual 2013 World Responsible Tourism Awards. Commenting on the background to the conference, Carol Gleeson, manager of the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark LIFE programme said, “LIFE is designed to explore how best to develop and manage sustainable tourism …