Companies are seeking to offset their Carbon footprint through local initiatives. One of the most effective routes to achieve these targets, is to plant forests and woodlands across Ireland.

Socially, it is an essential industry to support rural and local employment. Tree planters, truck drivers, timber harvesting and forestry management are all roles carried out by local people. Woodlands can provide a wonderful local amenity too, giving people an opportunity to take solace in a native woodland and forest and to enjoy the biodiversity present across all forests.

Green Belt works with you to identify your requirements, discuss a robust approach to address your needs, and provide forestry excellence in delivering your project.

Our team of professional foresters, in house ecology team and expert GIS panel, will produce the detailed reporting necessary to satisfy your stakeholders and customers.

Some of the solutions we provide include

Afforestation - the planting of new forests

Reforestation - improving soil health and biodiversity in replanting forests

Peatland rewetting - reducing the emissions from Irelands peatlands.

Renewable consultancy - providing the platform to potentially include renewables on your lands portfolio.

Contact us today to set up a consultation where we can work as part of your sustainability team and get it done. #YourForestYourFuture

A unique and special opportunity to acquire a wonderfully crafted, limited edition, Teak serving board.

Teak is a hard, durable and beautifully grained timber. Our limited edition boards are released to celebrate Green Belts 40 years of planting trees. They are a wonderful gift idea for clients or someone special.

These beautiful boards have been crafted in Panama with Teak from our FSC managed plantations, and finished by Robert O'Connor woodworkers in Gorey, Co Wexford.

There are ONLY 113 in total, of these boards available. Each one is numbered within the series and also bears the Green Belt logo - a mark of quality. With advance purchases, you can even personalise your own board**. Each board comes with a card explaining the quality and value of the board.

Bulk orders are available and a discount can be discussed.

Dimensions (approximate): 75cm X 30cm X 4cm or 50cm X 30cm X 4cm **Weight **(approximate): 5.3kg

P&P to be arranged and is €25. ** - Personalisation is €30 per board.

Details are emerging on the new Forestry Program, launched by the DAFM with Minister Pippa Hackett and Minister Charlie McConalogue.

While all the details are yet to be confirmed in Europe, in brief, we can confirm Native Woodlands will receive a tax free annual premium of €1,103 per hectare and that is now to be paid each year for 20 years, for farmers. this represents an increase of 66% on previous premium payments.

If you take an average planting area of 8 hectares (20 acres), a farmer will now receive €220,600 in annual premiums, tax free over 20 years.

It seems all forestry planting categories are seeing an uplift in premiums of 40% upwards to 66%.

New schemes to be encouraged include Rewilding land with emergent woodland and in Rewetting proposals under a Forests for Water scheme which will attract an annual premium of €1,142 per hectare.

Stay tuned for more details.

Green Belt has worked in communities across Ireland for 40 years. Our foresters live and work in these communities. So, it is really important that we can work with local community groups, County Councils and businesses all over Ireland to create woodlands and amenities for all to enjoy.

There are government grants and supports to help these projects take off and we have a network of local, Irish businesses that can also provide assistance to certain projects.

Get in touch with us today to develop your community project and amenity woodland. And have you considered your company hosting a Tree Planting Day? A superb way to spend time together in the outdoors and do something completely different!

Green Belt has been delighted to be celebrating across 2022 our 40 years of planting trees (and more) in Ireland.

We are running a photography competition each month which is proving popular - check out our instagram for that!

We also came together as a group to create a memorable video, where the great energy within the company was clear to see. You can watch it here!

The DAFM have issued the following status warning due to the high temperatures forecast this week: Take care and be extra vigilant!

Condition Orange – High Fire Risk Warning Effective From 1200hrs 14/07/2022 Effective Period Expires 1200hrs 20/07/2022 Arising from current weather patterns a high fire risk is deemed to exist in all areas where hazardous fuels such as dead grasses and shrub fuels such as heather and gorse exist. A high-pressure ridge currently located to the south west of Ireland will move northwards during the lifespan of this notice and influence Southerly airflows with high air temperatures low to moderate humidity and moderate windspeeds as the weekend progresses. Members of the public intending to visit forests and other recreational sites are reminded to adhere to regulations regarding fire use. Forest visitors should not use barbeques or open fires at any stage. Vehicles must not be parked at site entrances or impede emergency service access to forest roads. Fire risk is expected to peak on Sunday, July 17th. Where fires occur, fire behaviour is likely to be influenced by moderate windspeeds in the 15-25kmh region. Higher windspeeds above the critical 30km/h threshold may be experienced in southern areas. Fire behaviour will be moderated by increased live fuel availability and high live fuel moisture levels in upland areas.

Green Belt continued with our tree planting days, this time in St Jarlath's College in Tuam, Co Galway.
Our local forester, Mike Moroney was on hand to deliver the 50 Native Irish Tree's and to guide the TY students in the best way to plant the tree's. This is Green Belt's second year supporting this really wonderful schools initiative, for their Eco UNESCO Project 'The Tree Amigos'.

Thank you for having us St Jarlath's and we look forward to watching those tree's grow with you and the community you support.

SEEFA, representing Ireland’s private forestry industry staged a protest on Kildare street on the 3rd of November. This protest was seen as the only option available to the industry in light of the lack of action and commitment from the Forest Service and the Department of Agriculture (DAFM).

At risk are more than 12,000 jobs in mainly rural communities within the industry. The issue is around the fact that there are more than 9 thousand licences for new tree planting, timber harvesting and road construction for forests.

This has led to an increase in timber products prices for construction. Irish timber is in high demand for all aspects of construction.

Further to this is stark loss of potential carbon capture in lands left unplanted - this has been calculated at a conservative 500,000 tons of Carbon. When it is put in context with the current COP26, it is easy to see why Teige Ryan from None So Hardy nurseries and SEEFA said it has been a COP OUT by the department.

Minister McConalogue has clarified his departments stance on the ownership claims on private forestry carbon and the trading of those potential credits.

There is a viable voluntary market that can provide a platform for private forest owners to trade to a private company. It is important to ensure there is no double accounting.

In todays Farmers Journal, Donal Magner wrote that Minster McConalogue clarified the position to the IFJ and states "I want to be clear that the state is not trading or seeking to trade the carbon sequestered in farmers forests. We are however, obliged to report and account for all greenhouse gases here under our international obligations and this includes sequestration and emissions from forestry."

"THIS DOES NOT IMPLY OWNERSHIP", He continues, an important point!, "but simply reflects the requirement for those reductions and emissions to be included in the State's climate inventory." Obviously this has been broadly welcomed by all private forest owners and those considering the establishment of a private forest. The potential for Carbon to add significantly to their earning power and returns from forestry are immense and we believe will lead to an increased interest in the afforestation program.

Now all we need is a forest service that can deliver licences and a program.

Aldi plants 37,000 trees as Dunshaughlin store to open

John Donohoe Published: Fri 6 Aug 2021, 10:23 AM Last updated: Fri 6 Aug 2021, 8:49 PM Aldi has announced its Dunshaughlin store is to open on Thursday 19th August, and to mark the occasion, is planting 37,700 trees in Ashbourne.

The Dunshaughlin store staff teamed up with Green Belt and local landowner Joseph Corry to plant the native trees. The Woodland Environmental Fund, administered by the DAFM, provides additional support to the land owner from a supporting company. Aldi has been working with these land owners across the country as part of their drive to establish 1,000,000 trees.

The field which is being developed was known as 'The Lawn', as it was once part of the grounds of Supple Castle, home of an old Dunshaughlin family who date from the 17th century. It was later owned by Murphys, and most recently, by Maddens, of the neighbouring hardware store.

Aldi says it is the first retailer in Ireland to commit to planting one million native Irish woodland trees by 2025 in partnership with Green Belt. The native trees will create a wildlife corridor for native species and enhance biodiversity, while also removing more than 160,000 tonnes of carbon emissions over their 100-year life span.

If your company would like to become involved with the Woodland Environmental Fund and support local land owners develop Native Irish woodlands, please contact your local Green Belt forester.