TREES ON THE LAND
Trees on the Land is a cross-border initiative from the Green Economy Foundation. The project works to establish young native trees at sites across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Trees on the Land provides simple schemes for landowners to access quality native tree mixes each season. We work with farmers, smallholders, community groups, councils, schools, colleges and many other landowners to coordinate sites to accommodate trees.
We plant small woodlands, coppices, orchards, hedgerows, shelter belts, agroforestry projects, reforestation sites and larger woodlands. The project has planted over a million trees since 2013.
For more information please see https://www.treesontheland.com/home
COMMUNITY BASED PROJECTS
As an established NGO we recognise the challenges faced by new innovative projects. We want to ensure that the lessons we have learned over time – from both our successes and our failures – can be useful for future decisions. We also have an established well-governed legal structure in GEF to facilitate community nature based projects in getting started and in connecting different idea and initiatives to each other.
An example of this is West Cork Donut Economics Network. This is a network of micro and small to medium enterprises working under a small leadership team to deliver information and best practice sharing to others who are interested in developing the business models described by Kate Raworth in her Donut Economics book. This has become a project of GEF and we are currently working to fund this project and move it forward to the next stage.
For more information see our projects page https://www.facebook.com/WestCorkDoughnut and the following
https://doughnuteconomics.org/organisations-and-networks/west-cork-doughnut-economy-network
We also provide support, advice and resources to community-based projects engaged in environmental work, habitat restoration, tree planting, climate activism and sustainable initiatives.
TREE PLANTING PROJECTS
Through working for two decades on the establishment of woodlands, trees and the restoration of habitats, we have gained considerable knowledge and expertise particularly in relation to native trees and woodlands. We are using this gained experience to advise, fund and support the planting of 10s of thousands of native trees in urban, suburban and rural areas working with the GAA, farmers co-ops, community environmental groups, young environmentalists, school groups, community biodiversity action plans, tidy towns, resident’s associations, companies, landowners and citizens.
EDUCATION
Due to our change in venue and making best use of our available resources, our education programme is now focusing on working with corporate groups, volunteers and community organisations, as well as some European students who are funded through the Erasmus programme focusing on biodiversity and sustainability.
Please contact us to discuss a tailored education programme (half day/ full day) or regular events with environmental education including – ecology, woodland ecology, biodiversity, nature connection, tree growing, tree planting, woodland management, woodland restoration, habitat restoration, flora and fauna of the woodland, establishing a tree nursery, tree propagation, working with hand tools, nature walks, orienteering, woodland work and woodland leisure, doughnut economics, the sustainable development goals, circular economy and more.
SUSTAINABILTY
One of our core objectives is to mainstream sustainability. Our focus is on mainstreaming the principles of Sustainable Development as opposed to simply facilitating mainstream use of the word sustainable. Sustainability has gone from an obscure environmental terminology to a United Nations global initiative. This has led to sectors from financial and investment sectors to multinationals and manufacturing sectors, and even recently the tobacco industry claiming all sorts of sustainability credentials. This requires being an effective watchdog and monitoring for green-washing claims.
Even in this context, we continue to engage and to work from within the system to bring about the controlled change that is required. This means that we work on implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and monitor the
implementation of these.
TOBAGO PROJECT, CORBIN LOCAL WILDLIFE PARK
When our Chair, Ian Wright, came into the office one day and explained his plans to start a project in Tobago we couldn’t have imagined what it would blossom in to.
Ian and Roy have worked together to carve out a corner of Tobago that has become a sanctuary for local wildlife with a long and varied list of residents including caiman, agouti, parrots, quenk, boa constrictors, sally painter, manicous/opossum, armadillo/ tattoos, red squirrels, green iguana, as well as numerous bird and butterfly species. Here they run an education programme for local schools, visitors and tourists who have a chance to get close to the indigenous wildlife and discover a new appreciation for them. Some animals are rescued or handed in having been injured or captured and some are successfully breeding to re-establish populations of Tobago which are endangered through hunting.
For more information on the work in Tobago – https://tobagowildlife.org/corbin-local-wildlife-park/
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE
Our CEO, Cillian Lohan, was selected by his colleagues in the Irish Environmental Network and proposed to the Irish Government as a nominee for the EESC. The nomination was accepted and approved by the European Council. Cillian got straight to work in this position and proposed the creation of a European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. This was established, with Cillian as the inaugural chair of their Coordination Group. He continues to work regularly to drive the ECESP forward in his monthly meetings as part of the 6 person Steering group with the DG ENV of the European Commission.
He also became on of two Vice Presidents of the EESC from 2020 – 2023. In this time he delivered a new Communication Strategy for EESC, updated audio-visual facilities, established new governance procedures, created a Connecting EU Seminar to connect civil society organisations from all over EU, and hosted a large youth event called Your Europe, Your Say.
On youth matters, he also wrote an Opinion on Structured Youth Engagement, and from this established the Youth Climate and Sustainability Round Tables.
He currently is President of the EU-UK Follow Up Group, and VP of the section that deals with climate, sustainability,rural development and agriculture, NAT Section.
The EESC
Committed to European integration, the EESC contributes to strengthening the democratic legitimacy and effectiveness of the European Union by enabling civil society organisations from the Member States to express their views at European level.
This Committee fulfils three key missions:
- Helping to ensure that European policies and legislation tie in better with economic, social and civic circumstances on the ground, by assisting the European Parliament, Council and European Commission, making use of EESC members; experience and representativeness, dialogue and efforts to secure consensus serving the general interest
- Promoting the development of a more participatory European Union, which is more in touch with popular opinion, by acting as an institutional forum representing, informing, expressing the views of and securing dialogue with organised civil society
- Promoting the values on which European integration is founded and advancing, in Europe and across the world,the cause of democracy and participatory democracy, as well as the role of civil society organisations.
The EESC is a consultative body that gives representatives of Europes socio-occupational interest groups and others a formal platform to express their points of view on EU issues. Its opinions are addressed to the Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament. It thus has a key role to play in the Unions decision-making process.