Carbon Sequestration & Biodiversity
Plant trees and promote biodiversity
Why it's important
Planting trees is important because
- Trees provide economic return through grants and premia from the Irish Government
- Trees are the single most efficient way of sequestering carbon
- Properly managed trees on farms provide many many environmental services such as soil
erosion mitigation, water protection and biodiversity enhancement - Spending time amongst trees has been shown to be positive for mental health
- Trees provide shelter for livestock reducing lamb mortality for example
- Grazing season can be extended in pastures with well planned tree cover.
- Ireland has one of the lowest tree coverage rates in Europe
Habitat restoration, according to Cornell Law School, “means the manipulation of the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of a site with the goal of returning the majority of natural functions to the lost or degraded habitat.”
As more and more habitats have become degraded and more plant and animals become threatened or even extinct there is increasing realisation of the importance of biodiversity and ecological resilience for the survival of earth’s biome as we have known it. There’s also increasing awareness of the critical importance of natural systems for human survival. Powerful examples of this include fears around the loss of pollinators due to the widespread use of insecticides and the loss of soil biodiversity due to inappropriate cultivation practices; both of these trends pose significant threats to human food supplies as well as to many of our co-inhabitants on this planet.
What is CALL doing about it
Spreading the word on planting
We are promoting the planting of trees as a complement to other farming activities. We do so by offering information on grants and premia and how to get the work done through talks, walks and tree events.
Planting at large scales
We have been involved in several tree planting efforts in Louisburgh Locality area totaling over 43 acres of native trees planted so far. We encourage novel ways of purchasing and planting land such as community forests and co-ops.
Habitat restoration
CALL is encouraging habitat restoration in places such as abandoned cut-away bogs and other marginal land areas. We are expecting to be able to identify and perhaps even promote the set-up of funding schemes aimed at encouraging landowners to engage with restoration schemes in marginal and areas and along river banks.
Biodiversity studies
We have recently (May 2023) been approved for grant aid towards a baseline ecological study of the Carrowniskey and Ballyhip rivers. We would like to keep researching the status of our resources with studies like this one.
If you want to know more about our position regarding planting check this post.
Let us know if you would like to plant trees in your land!
What can YOU do about it
Enjoy nature
Join a forest walk
Get planting
Plant some of your own land. Talk to us about your plans to plant – maybe we can help. If you don't have space to plant in your land, get involved in the next community forest adventure.
Habitat restoration can be carried out on a large scale such as in abandoned cut-away bogs or on a small scale such your own garden where you can let parts of it go wild or semi-wild. Good examples of small scale restoration include letting parts or all of your grassy areas go uncut for all or part of the year, letting your hedge-rows grow as they please or digging a pond where you once had a lawn. CALL members have successfully carried out all of these practices in their own gardens and are happy to give advice to anyone enquires. Visits to sites and gardens that have had restoration can be be arranged by request to this website. You can also plant trees wherever you have space and you can sow species of plants that are good for pollinators.
External links & Resources
Below you can find some links we find particularly useful when planting and helping our biodiverse environment to thrive
provides advice, training and research on farm forestry and related matters
Photo by Adrian Tiernan, @artaltitudesdroneworks
CALL’s Blue Dot to the Sea Campaign September 5, 2024 - The purpose of our Blue Dot project is to engage the community connected with the rivers in our sub-catchment- the Carrowniskey and Bunowen rivers and their tributaries. A key aim is to help these rivers be as ecologically pure as they can be.
The Blue Dot project involves a few different angles: I am carrying out recorded and anonymised interviews with people who live with these rivers, organising some public events, attending knowledge sharing sessions, and visiting some schools and colleges to talk about the project and its findings.
Heritage Water Day Louisburgh 25/08/24 September 5, 2024 - We had a great day, avoiding the worst of the rain: starting at Louisburgh Town Hall. For the outdoor activities we headed down to the Bunowen river by the bridge for a demo of Electrofishing by Inland Fisheries Ireland and a demo of kick sampling by our Community Water Officer. It didn't rain too much despite the awful forecast. If you were put off from coming because of that weather forecast, you missed out!
Talking Wild in Louisburgh May 6, 2024 - Join us at Louisburgh Town Hall this Friday to listen to Éanna Ní Lamhna. She’s an entertaining speaker full of passion and knowledge for our...
Pond workshop March 2, 2024 - Ponds are a haven for biodiversity, a pleasure to look at and you can build one in your garden in a weekend. We had a...