We ran a productive volunteer work day at Manch earlier in March, clearing up after the snow and planting a few new apple trees. Many thanks to everyone who joined us and to Nikki for organising it all.
We planted ten Irish apple trees supplied by Future Forests (www.futureforests.ie), the first new trees in the walled garden for several decades. Hopefully they will grow on well and, in time, replace some of the magnificent but ageing apple trees there that won’t go on forever.
It’s a great time of year for assessing both the garden and the woodlands when all of the greenery has died back over the winter and the snow has flattened things down a bit. It is easy to see the progress of young trees and assess their condition and form, especially in areas that become quickly overgrown during the spring and summer.
There is evidence of spring after all the cold weather with brave daffodils starting to show their faces. The hazel and alder is in flower and the blackthorn flowers are coming.
We’ll be running another work day soon – details to follow on the website.
– Sunday 4th March 2018
– Manch Estate, Ballineen, Co. Cork
– 11.30am – 4.30pm
– All Welcome
Come and see what’s going on at the Manch Project this spring. A guided woodland walk will start at 2pm but feel free to wander and explore our 25km of woodland and riparian paths from 11.30am.
The Manch Project is a unique woodland management and establishment project developed by the Green Economy Foundation at the beautiful 320 acre Manch Estate in Co. Cork. The woodlands at Manch are a working example of Continuous Cover and Sustainable Woodland Management principles; an alternative to the common system of even-aged plantation forestry designed for clearfell. Come along and see the difference.
This is a free event – donations are welcome on the day.
No dogs please – Sorry!
The Trees on the Land project has just completed a busy 2018 planting day with almost 600 small sites planted with native trees on and around Saturday 10th February.
A huge thanks to everyone who took part in the tree planting – The weather was pretty awful and very cold in most places but most people managed to wrap up warm and get out planting on the day. Particular thanks go to those kind people hosting collection points and to others who helped move trees to people further out from the collections.
Just over 130,000 trees were distributed for planting as small woodlands, shelter belts, hedgerows, coppice, agroforestry and orchard projects. Planting sites are located on farms and smallholdings, at community sites, in schools and colleges and with many other landowners across the 32 counties with a significant rise this season in the number of orchard and agroforestry projects included.
The team look forward to announcing schemes for 2019 over the coming months.
The Trees on the Land team are delighted to announce that applications for trees are now open at www.treesontheland.com
Applications for tree packs are open to farmers, smallholders, councils, community groups, schools, colleges and other landowners. Tree planting will be on Saturday 10th February 2018. Applications close on Friday 2nd January 2018.
Tree packs for the establisment of small woodlands, coppices, orchards, hedgerows, shelter belts, agroforestry projects, reforestation sites and larger woodlands are available; applicants can order up to a maximum of 40 packs of 50 trees (2,000 trees). Application fees of €21/£19 apply to every pack of trees ordered. Fees of €30/£28 and upwards apply to apple tree packs.
All trees are native species grown in Ireland from certified Irish provenance seed. Irish grown apple trees are also available.
The One Million Trees in One Day project has taken on a new name – Trees on the Land – for its ongoing tree planting projects.
Trees on the Land keeps much the same structure and will continue to run an annual event with applicants across the 32 counties planting their trees on a selected Saturday in February. As the project enters its sixth season of planting the team hope to continue to improve an initiative which has evolved into a seasonal fixture on farms and in communities across the island.
Project Co-ordinator Imogen Rabone says of the change: “One Million Trees in One Day has come a long way since its start in 2011; we’ve planted a lot of trees and each season we’ve had a crack at a million trees, but we’ve fallen so far short that we decided a new working title – Trees on the Land – would better describe the project.”
The project has planted more than 730,000 native trees at hundreds of sites in Ireland and Northern Ireland with a focus on farm and community tree cover establishment. The project distributes mixes of native trees suitable for small woodland, coppice, hedgerow, orchard, agroforestry, shelter belt and reforestation establishment work.
Applications for trees are open for the next planting day – Saturday 10th February 2018 – and can be made at www.treesontheland.com
Cillian Lohan, CEO of the Green Economy Foundation, was unanimously elected as spokesperson of the Consumers & Environment Category (CEC) today at the European Economic and Social Committee.
The category works to make sure that consumer rights and protection of the environment are considered in documents proposed by the European Commission. It also provides a forum for the discussion of policies implemented in the particpants’ own countries.
Cillian will be working on the ‘Environment’ element and Spanish member Bernardo Hernández Bataller (Secretary General of the Association of Communication Users) on the “Consumers” element.
The One Million Trees in One Day team ran a busy planting day this year on Saturday 11th February with just over 77,000 trees planted at 504 sites across Ireland and Northern Ireland.
In bitterly cold and wintry conditions, farmers and smallholders, schools, colleges, community groups and other landowners turned out to plant trees on their land. The planting included woodland, hedgerow, coppice, orchard and agroforestry establishment projects with more than 70 community groups taking part and hundreds of volunteers helping with the distribution and planting of trees.
Project Co-ordinator Imogen Rabone says:
“We ran a modest project this year with a relatively short lead-time – we’re delighted to have been able to include so many landowners and such a diversity of planting projects. We have worked with some brilliant sponsors and donors this season and our new application fees have been a success, so we look forward to continuing development of the project for 2018. As always – a huge thank you to all of our helpers, particularly those running collection points and helping with tree deliveries.”
The One Million Trees in One Day project has planted over 700,000 trees across Ireland and Northern Ireland and is currently working on co-ordinating its 2018 projects. For more information visit www.onemilliontreesinoneday.com
The Green Economy Foundation’s Cillian Lohan is currently working as Rapporteur on the European Economic and Social Committee Opinion on Ecodesign Working Plan 2016 – 2019.
Cillian Lohan says of the Ecodesign Working Plan: “The design of a product is important for its durability, reparability, and recyclability. It is critical that the scope of the Commission’s Ecodesign work is broad enough to drive innovation in business that will in turn support the development of a strong secondary raw materials market. Clean, valuable, accessible secondary raw materials are critical for the transition to circularity to be achieved.”.
With the measures for the new products in the Working Plan and the revision of existing measures, the Commission states that an additional 600 TWH primary energy savings could be made by 2030. This corresponds to the yearly energy consumption of Sweden.
The Ecodesign Working Plan sets out an indicative list of product groups that are considered as priorities for the adoption of implementing measures. New products that will be considered are: building automation and control systems, electric kettles, hand dryers, lifts, solar panels and inverters, refrigerated containers, and high pressure cleaners.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, who are at the centre of the mission to accelarate the transition to a circular economy, published this excellent document which explains much about the concept of designing for a circular economy. Click HERE to read it.
Green Economy Foundation CEO Cillian Lohan, member of the European Economic and Social Committee, has been working as Rapporteur on an Opinion on Waste to Energy.
The following article from the Euractiv news-site outines some of the key issues and positions contained in the opinon:
