Press release
2024 ‘Love This Place’ campaign asks the public to enjoy and respect Ireland’s great outdoor spaces
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• Roz Purcell launches 2024 ‘Love This Place’ campaign with Leave No Trace Ireland and Partners.
• Love This Place campaign asks the public to respect and enjoy Ireland’s outdoors this summer.
• ‘Love This Place’ Campaign highlights three specific ‘Calls to Action’:
1. Stick to the Path – asking the public to stay on pathways to avoid damaging habitats or disturbing farm animals
2. Be a Responsible Dog Owner – asking dog owners to keep their dogs on a leash outdoors, especially near farm animals, and pick up their dog’s waste
3. Keep Ireland Litter-Free – asking everyone to bring their litter and other waste home and dispose of it responsibly.
• 2024 ‘Love This Place’ campaign will culminate in National ‘Love This Place’ Day on Sunday 28th July.
Tuesday, 28th May 2024 - Leave No Trace Ireland (LNT) - Ireland’s only outdoor ethics programme, which promotes the responsible use of the outdoors - has in collaboration with partners launched the 2024 ‘Love This Place' Public Awareness Campaign urging the public to enjoy our outdoor spaces (including parks, open countryside, and beaches) with care and respect. Author, outdoor enthusiast and founder of the Hike Life, Roz Purcell, is again supporting this important awareness campaign.
The Love This Place 2024 campaign invites individuals and their communities to join in a collective national effort to protect, respect and care for Ireland's beautiful outdoor spaces and deep wealth of biodiversity and natural outdoor heritage.
Research shows that some 2.7 million visitors to Ireland from overseas markets took part in outdoor activities, and 64% of Irish people participated in land-based recreation activities whilst on holiday in Ireland. (Source: National Outdoor Recreation Strategy).
The campaign focuses on promoting universal messages of respect and care in the enjoyment of our outdoor spaces. These universal messages incorporate both courtesy and respect for each other in the outdoors and moderating our actions to protect and care for nature, habitats and biodiversity that are present everywhere and are increasingly vulnerable to the pressures of the visitor numbers that enjoy them.
The ‘Love this Place’ campaign will run across June, July, and August - the busiest summer months that experience the highest numbers of visitors to the outdoors.
The campaign will focus in on three collective goals that include simple actions for people to enjoy the outdoor spaces more responsibly.
1. Stick to the Path
2. Be a Responsible Dog Owner
3. Keep Ireland Litter-Free
During the campaign, members of the public will be urged to make the ‘#LoveThisPlace’ promise, confirming their love of Ireland’s great outdoors and committing to simple, positive actions that will help to protect and respect our outdoor spaces and natural environment.
The ‘Love This Place’ campaign will culminate in a day of environmental action on National ‘Love This Place’ Day on Friday, July 28th. This will also coincide with World Nature Conservation Day which underscores the global significance of sustainable practices in how we care for, respect, and enjoy the outdoors.
Launching the 2024 ‘Love This Place’ campaign, Maura Kiely, Chief Executive of Leave No Trace Ireland, emphasized the campaign's educational focus in cultivating care and respect for each other and the natural environment through responsible outdoor activities and behaviours. She said the ‘Love This Place’ campaign also supports the objectives of the National Outdoor Recreation strategy from Comhairle na Tuaithe: ‘Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors Strategy’ which seeks the development of a caring and responsible national outdoor recreation sector.
Maura Kiely said:
"Research conducted by Leave No Trace Ireland confirms the need for targeted initiatives to raise awareness, particularly among younger people, around the importance of sustainable outdoor recreational practices. We need to equip individuals with knowledge and advice so that they can minimize their environmental impact while continuing to enjoy Ireland's beautiful landscapes, terrain and habitats."
“We are asking everyone to take one or two simple actions that support responsible enjoyment of the outdoors and reinforce the environmental stewardship that all of us share. This can include something as simple as taking our leftover food and litter home with us and sticking to recognised footpaths and trails to help protect wildlife and crops, and to avoid disturbing wildlife and farm animals.
By embracing the ‘Love This Place Promise’ we can ensure that we are protecting and caring for our landscapes and beautiful outdoor spaces for the generations that will follow us.”
Roz Purcell, presenter, broadcaster, content creator and founder of The Hike Life, said the focus of the 2024 LNT campaign was on fostering a culture of environmental responsibility.
"As an avid outdoor enthusiast, I am honoured to join once again with Leave No Trace Ireland in championing the Love This Place Campaign. Together, we can ensure the longevity of our natural treasures by adopting mindful behaviours during our outdoor adventures. Let's make a collective promise to love and protect our cherished landscapes."
Supporting the ‘Leave No Trace’ Campaign, Minister Malcolm Noonan, Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage said:
“The protection and restoration of nature is more important now than ever, and public awareness has never been higher. Through education and environmental knowledge-sharing, Leave No Trace empowers people to take action and make a change in their communities. We are all responsible for looking after the natural world, but it’s only by working together that we can protect the countryside and ensure that when we’re out enjoying it, no trace is left behind.”
The ‘Love This Place’ 2024 campaign is a joint initiative with Leave No Trace Ireland’s core partners including Fáilte Ireland, Sport Ireland, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Department of Rural and Community Development, Dublin City Council, the Office of Public Works, Coillte, and Waterways Ireland.
The campaign is also supported by Fingal County Council, Galway County Council, Wicklow County Council.
For further information and guidance on responsible outdoor engagement, visit https://www.leavenotraceireland.org/love-this-place-leave-no-trace .
Picture Desks Please Note: Photos of the launch event with Love This Place Campaign, Campaign Ambassador, Roz Purcell, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD and LNT CEO, Maura Kiely will be issue separately by Andres Poveda Photography
Media Contacts: Derek Cunningham 086-2430535 derek@cunninghamdevlin.ie Jim Devlin 0872631057 jim@cunninghamdevlin.ie
Research Source: National Outdoor Recreation Strategy
• 2.7 million visitors to Ireland from overseas markets took part in outdoor activities in 2019
• In 2021 64% of Irish people participated in land-based recreation activities whilst on holiday in Ireland.
• In the CSO ‘Our Lives Outdoors’ survey carried out in spring 2022, 98% of respondents said they like to spend time outdoors.
Leave No Trace Ireland is Ireland’s only outdoor ethics programme, which promotes the responsible use of the outdoors. Through education, research and partnerships, Leave No Trace Ireland enables and supports individuals, communities, organisations, and companies in reducing the environmental impact of outdoor activities.
Sport Ireland is the authority tasked with the development of sport in Ireland. Sport Ireland Outdoors, a function of Sport Ireland, works with a large number of sporting bodies and other organisations to develop and promote a variety of outdoor sports, to support the development of recreational trails throughout Ireland, which are all developed to encourage more people to be active in the great outdoors.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service is the Executive Agency within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, with primary responsibility for nature conservation, wildlife protection and the presentation and preservation of our National Parks and Nature Reserves.
The Department of Rural and Community Development’s mission is to promote rural and community development and to support vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable communities throughout Ireland. The Department of Rural and Community Development acts as Secretariat for Comhairle na Tuaithe – the Countryside Council – which is made up of representatives from farming organisations, recreational users of the countryside and State bodies with a responsibility or interest in the countryside. Comhairle na Tuaithe endorses Leave No Trace. Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors National Outdoor Recreation Strategy 2023-2027 is here National Outdoor Recreation Strategy 2023 - 2027
The Office of Public Works (OPW) is a government office that delivers public services for flood protection, managing government properties and heritage services. A core part of its remit is maintaining and presenting Ireland’s most iconic heritage properties, including Ireland’s two World Heritage Sites, 780 National Monuments and over 2,000 acres of gardens and parklands. As the leading agency for flood risk management in Ireland, the OPW minimises the impacts of flooding through sustainable planning. It also manages a significant part of the State’s property portfolio and provides accommodation for government departments, over 700 Garda Properties and approximately 550 offices.
Fáilte Ireland is the National Tourism Development Authority, and its role is to support the long-term sustainable growth in the economic, social, cultural, and environmental contribution of tourism to Ireland.
Waterways Ireland is the cross-border navigational authority responsible for the management, maintenance, development, and promotion of over 1000 km of inland navigable waterways, principally for recreational purposes.
Coillte, Ireland’s state forestry company, is responsible for managing 440,000 hectares of primarily forested lands. Coillte is the nation’s largest forester and provider of outdoor recreation space. It also enables wind-energy on the estate, processes forestry by-products and undertakes nature rehabilitation projects of scale. Coillte delivers the multiple benefits of forestry, including forests for climate, for nature, for wood and for people. For further information visit www.coillte.ie.
Dublin City Council (Irish: Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland.