Two Laois friends are climate heroes

TWO friends who share a passion for the protection of nature and the environment have won a national Climate Ambassador award for outstanding achievement.

Laois duo Brian Meredith and Vito Romito received the prestigious trophy at the annual An Taisce awards ceremony, for their remarkable work in conserving and promoting biodiversity.

Beef farmer Brian of Meredith Organic Farm in Boley near Ballylinan and Vito, who works with ESB Fisheries Conservation, joined the Climate Ambassador Programme as friends and fellow supporters of innovative ventures to protect the environment.

Their combined love of the natural world fuelled their efforts to create groundbreaking climate and environmental change projects. Individually, they worked hard with litter picks, environmental film screenings, apple tree planting and methane mitigation workshops.

Working together, they marked both Biodiversity Week and Heritage Week this year with inclusive public farm walks and talks, with science-based insights into biodiversity on the farm.

These included highlighting the benefits of trees in a farming system, nutrient recycling in organic systems, the role of pollinators and insect life and the lack of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides use, all while taking in the organically reared cattle, native hedgerows and broadleaf woodland.

Brian and Vito also brought a local stream back to course, with the result that freshwater invertebrates and fish fry can enjoy larger stretches of pristinely healthy water.

They received the trophy at a ceremony in the historic Tailors’ Hall, the oldest surviving Guild Hall in Dublin, on 22 November when just ten national Climate Ambassador awards were presented by An Taisce.