Ireland Community Tree Planting

This project will address long-term ecological and biodiversity losses in Ireland. After decades of deforestation, many formerly forested areas of the island of Ireland are now very treeless and desolate, and Ireland has one of the lowest tree cover rates in Europe. Moreover, there are many instances recorded of trees not being welcome in rural areas, as these are seen as unnatural in a landscape devoid of trees for centuries.

This project will see the planting of 10,000 trees as a strategy to reintroduce habitat for important ecosystems. The west of Ireland would once have been covered by 'temperate rainforest', an extremely rare habitat today and one we are hoping to recreate. Alongside this, the project will engage the wider community, including the general public, businesses, and schoolchildren. It is essential that local people begin to once again see trees in the landscape as beneficial to their local environment, their farms, and their own mental health.