Kerry social enterprise aims to grow 100,000 trees by 2030
A social enterprise completely run by volunteers in south Kerry is aiming to grow 100,000 native Irish trees by the end of the decade.
Local Roots Kerry is focused on developing and promoting locally-owned woodlands and hedgerows to enhance biodiversity and sustainability.
The group collects seed, propagates and supplies certified Irish provenance trees, and provides practical help and support for community-led woodland creation.
The origin of the project can be traced back to 2023, when Debbie Reynolds and her husband Hugh bought a 5ac site near Killorglin where they wanted to plant trees.
Debbie, one of the co-founders of Local Roots Kerry, was inspired by a visit to the Clare-based nature restoration charity, Hometree, which is also involved in tree planting.
"Getting the feedback there and getting the confidence to actually push this forward, I took that home with me," she told Agriland.
The couple waited until October 2023 when the new Native Tree Area Scheme (NTAS) was launched as part of the government's Forestry Programme.
They engaged the services of a certified forester, as required by the scheme, to assess their 1ha plot and submit the application into the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
"We always had it in mind that we wanted to plant those trees with family and friends. We didn't want contractors involved, which meant that we had to go and collect the trees ourselves.
"In January, once we had the approval to go ahead, I drove to from Kerry to Wicklow, from Wicklow to Clare and back to Kerry to get my trees.
"I ended up with my SUV full of bare root trees, there was about 1,300 trees. The smell from the Scots Pine still stays with me to this day!" Debbie said.
"Over three weekends we planted those trees on our site with friends and family and all that we kept on hearing was 'I wish this was being done more often', 'We'd love to do more'. There was a lot of questions asking what they could do.
"There's where Local Roots Kerry was born. It was that feeling of being part of something bigger.
"I think we all had the feeling that the government is not going fast enough for us, we want to do something ourselves," she added.
In order to be able to provide trees under the NTAS and other schemes, the trees need to be of Irish providence and traceable.
Therefore, some of the Local Roots volunteers decided to become certified seed collectors, who could then secure permission from DAFM and landowners to collect seeds.
Once collected, the seeds are allowed to germinate before being planted in the Local Roots polytunnel and outside beds and when the trees are big enough they are given back to the community.
"What we are trying to do is get our community involved in growing them and planting them back locally. Our members basically have first dibs on what we grow and then we go further out to the community.
"Whatever we have left over every year we have partnered with Free Trees Ireland and we hope to partner with some more organisations so that the trees that we grow actually go to somewhere in Ireland, ideally Kerry," Debbie said.
She explained that the preference for Kerry is because "trees that are grown locally, will do better locally" due to the specific soil and climate of an area.
Along with supplying certified trees for DAFM schemes, Local Roots Kerry is also aiming to help with planting.
"Because we're 100% volunteers, we're hoping to get a group of members together that want to plant every year," Debbie said.
As this is the first year growing trees, Local Roots will only have alder and birch to supply. However, ideally in years to come they plan to work closer with foresters to supply the trees that are needed under schemes such as NTAS and Agroforestry.
Aside from department schemes, Debbie is hoping the initiative will help people to plant trees or hedgerows on a smaller scale in their gardens.
She would also like to see farmers considering "doubling up" on the hedgerows on their holdings.
Local Roots hosts community days for members of the public of all ages on the second Saturday of most months, with the next event due to take place on March 8.
During the most recent gathering, outdoor beds were built, seeds were sown in the polytunnel and owl boxes, made by students in the local secondary school, Intermediate School, Killorglin, were erected.
"For us, it's all about coming together, doing work that is needed and having a bit of fun. It's all about the craic really!" Debbie said.
Local transition year students also come to the site on a weekly basis to help out with tasks such as mulching.
While there is no "end goal" for the project, Local Roots has set an "ambitious" target of growing 100,000 native Irish trees by 2030.
"It's not just the trees and the community that we're talking about, it's also biodiversity. Native trees carry a higher amount of insects and birds. That's the thing that people overlook," Debbie said.
