12,000 native trees to be planted under Department scheme

Iarnród Éireann is the first public body to have applied and been approved for the Creation of Woodland on Public Lands Scheme

Sports & Parks

3 June 2021

Plans for the first development under the Creation of Woodland on Public Lands Scheme are underway.

It has been announced that 12,000 native trees will be planted in a 10-and-half-acre Iarnród Éireann site. The site, which is adjacent to the railway line at Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Roscommon, will be developed with woodland and ecology specialists, Veon.

Devised and funded by the Department of Agriculture, the Creation of Woodland on Public Lands Scheme was launched in August 2020 to fund the creation of native woods on publicly owned lands. Iarnród Éireann is the first public body to have applied for the scheme and been approved.

Iarnród Éireann engaged Veon to analyse its available landbanks and select suitable sites for the scheme. When the chosen was identified as suitable, Veon helped Iarnród Éireann obtain the afforestation licence and devise the planting programme.

During a recent visit to the site, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, with responsibility for Land Use and Biodiversity, Pippa Hackett, said: “I want to congratulate Iarnrod Eireann for being at the forefront of this fantastic scheme. By being the first state organisation to successfully engage with it, they are demonstrating true climate leadership and the commitment of their management and staff show they take their corporate social responsibility seriously. They are an inspiration for other public bodies to follow their lead and become part of the climate solution. I also want to acknowledge the role of Veon too, in the creation of this new biodiverse native woodland.”

“As the first public body to have applied and been approved for the scheme we are demonstrating our ongoing commitment to operating in an environmentally sound manner and helping to proactively mitigate our impact on the environment,” added Emer Bambrick, environmental executive with Iarnród Éireann.

“This scheme promotes the creation of new biodiverse woodlands on publicly owned lands and is in keeping with Iarnród Éireann’s strategy of being part of the climate solution. The company is achieving this through the expansion of rail as a mode of transport for passengers and freight in order to decarbonise transport, a central target of the national Climate Action Plan. The creation of this new woodland, in partnership with Veon, will sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, help mitigate our transport emissions and enhance biodiversity which is a winning solution for all of us.”