Native Woodland Support Scheme

The Native Woodlands Support Scheme, adapted by Green Belt, promotes the establishment of native woodlands across Ireland. Green Belt establishes a hardwood forest for a local landowner, and a business supports their initiative with a once off payment to the land owner.

Native Woodlands are extremely important to the Irish forestry landscape. They add diversity, habitats, amenity values and a long term carbon store. In the longer term, they can also provide beautiful timber for furniture among other elements. Green Belt has been promoting the establishment of native woodlands since 1982 and have the record for the most hardwoods established nationally by any management company across Ireland.

The Native Woodland support Scheme by Green Belt is aimed to further promote the establishment of native woodlands by further enhancing payments to farmers/ landowners who establish hardwood plantations. The land, the trees and the premiums all remain the property of the landowner, while the donor company enjoys the benefits of being associated with the establishment of new forests in Ireland.

Green Belt has pioneered this project and has worked with numerous companies, including Microsoft, KBI, Aldi, Applegreen and An Post to establish these forests. The woodlands are established under approval of DAFM and subject to the guidelines and rules as set out in the DAFM guidelines for establishing a woodland in Ireland.

Qualifying areas must be in excess of 4 hectares and be a native woodland ready for establishment. Get in touch today to get qualified.

Using the mantra "the right tree in the right place", Green Belt will work with you as landowner to decide upon the best course of action to establish a forest and a longer term management plan to meet your needs and desires from owning a forest.

Download Documents: 

Green Belt Native Woodland Support Scheme

Contact your local forester to get involved in this project. Many businesses are keen to support native tree planting nationally. It is a great way to encourage more to understand woodland creation and to engage your staff and more.

Tree Planting Days

Now more than ever we all appreciate an opportunity to get together and spend quality time building and developing relationships. Green Belt provide an opportunity to spend this time in the outdoors, getting down and dirty and physically planting trees! Join our tree planting crews on an active planting site and learn the lifecycle of Irish forestry, plant a few native trees and have lots of fun.

Green Belt is Ireland's leading forestry management company. We plant more trees each year than anyone else in Ireland and we are very keen to develop the understanding of a forestry and woodland lifecycle to everyone. On our tree planting days, you will be directed to an active planting site and there you will meet some of the team from Green Belt, including the local forestry professional and the tree planting teams.

EDUCATION

We will guide you though the tree planting process so you know how to plant a young tree successfully. We will tell you how we help it grow and the steps we take to protect the environment around the woodland, including watercourses and wildlife. You will see first hand the really positive impact forests have on the landscape, on a community, in the life of the forest owner and also in the provision of local and rural employment for years to come.

A GREAT DAY OUT

The tree planting day is run over a 3 hour period, from 10am to 3pm. We try and keep the sites within 1 hour of your specified departure location. Green Belt will provide trees and some spades - but a lot of the fun is getting your hands dirty. We strongly suggest you bring your own wellies and weather proof gear - it is Ireland after all. Check out a short video of a day

There will be plenty of time for a chat, fun and a few pics. The best planter gets a prize, of course - and what happens the worst one??? Regardless of your tree planting skills, all participants get a certificate of completion! We can provide sandwiches and refreshments for the end of the event (this can be requested on the booking form) and we try to include local food companies for these. You also get a souvenir of the day, of a sustainable, GOTS certified, organic cotton T-Shirt (see image and order form below). Contact Maurice Ryan on 087 6753097 or at maurice@greenbelt.ie

Download Documents: 

TREE PLANTING DAY BOOKING FORM

Details on the tree planting days

What is the cost?

We look for group sizes of at least 10. The cost per person is €90 which includes a certified GOTS organic cotton t-shirt (RRP €25) and a **Certificate of Completion.

How long does it take?

We suggest a time of 3 hours on site is more than enough. Take spare clothes and wet gear. The ground is agricultural so is uneven and not suitable for everyone.

What will we be planting?

Ireland needs a diverse mix of species to be planted across the country. On your day you will be planting a wide variety of species - everything from Oak tree's to Alder, Birch, Scots Pine, Spruce and Sycamore.

See how to plant a tree

What Agroforestry is

The Agroforestry option of the Afforestation Scheme provides financial support to grow trees on land being used for farming. The system gives land owners the flexibility to graze and even cut silage and hay while growing trees for timber in the same field.

Stocking rate Agroforestry can involve pasture, grazing, silage and hay. Other systems may be considered on a site to site basis as long as the tree stocking rate is between 400-1000 trees per hectare, it is at least 0.5 of a hectare and at least 20 meters wide. The trees will be thinned out in time reducing numbers to between 160-250 trees per hectare. This will allow enough light to filter through the canopy enabling continued grass growth. Trees must be protected against browsing animals with tree shelters, fencing or both. You can further improve the environmental performance of your farm by using biodegradable tree shelters, exclusively available from Green Belt.

These are some of the benefits of agroforestry:

1. It can produce veneer quality timber
2. Trees improve land drainage
3. The root structure prevents nutrient runoff and reduces sedimentation of nearby water courses
4. Agroforestry enhances animal welfare
5. Planting Native trees improves biodiversity and habitats
6. A woodland enhances the landscape

Green Belt is expert at developing Agroforestry projects and will guide you through the entire process, ensuring success on your farm.