Community forest needs growing space

MEMBERS of the Transition Chorca Dhuibhne environmental group are gathering seeds and growing saplings for a community forest that they hope to plant in West Kerry. All they need is land and they hope somebody will be willing to donate that in the interest of greening the countryside.

The group needs about 30 acres of not very good land where they can plant native trees such as ash, oak, hazel and (semi-native) beech that would grow into an attractive woodland, providing a haven for wildlife and increasing the biodiversity of an area dominated by mono-cultural farming.

Because it would be planted with deciduous trees, the community forest would blend naturally into the landscape and would also provide some degree of balance to the commercial plantations of Sitka Spruce that are scattered in geometric blocks around the countryside, providing refuge for neither animals nor humans.

The dream of a community forest is close to the heart of Darach Ó Murchú and his fellow members of Transition Chorca Dhuibhne who have no money to buy land but are raising saplings nonetheless in the hope that somebody will provide land where the dream can grow into a reality. The land would not be owned by Transition Chorca Dhuibhne but would instead be held by a trust to ensure it remains in community ownership in perpetuity.

For Darach growing native trees is much more than a ‘pretty project’; he looks to their benefit to wildlife, biodiversity, land drainage, soil quality, flood prevention, carbon sequestration, and not least that being around trees makes people feel good.

With so much to be said in its favour, there’s no doubt that a community forest is what people who wear suits would call a ‘no brainer’. All that’s needed is land and Transition Chorca Dhuibhne would be very, very happy indeed to hear from anybody willing to donate to the cause.

Ideally they’d like to get about 30 acres of connected land so that the forest would be able to form its own natural ecosystem, but separate, closely connected, plots might work also. The land can be of poor quality (in farming terms), it can be hilly or flat, but it shouldn’t be too wet. The doner will earn nothing from the transaction, but their generosity will be remembered forever – and that’s more than money can buy.

Darach can be contacted at 087 2153758

Photo by Declan Malone Darach Ó Murchú, armed with a box of oak saplings and looking forward to planting a community forest in West Kerry.