The last six weeks have been an absolute blast! Our headquarters site is developing and becoming more beautiful and biodiverse each day. With a small bit of funding from Clare County Council, we put in our first pond, and we have planted many little pathways and walkways with shrubs and bushes.
Read MoreAt the end of February we started the first thinning of sitka spruce. The first step is to fell one in every six rows of conifers. We will also free up any native trees we come across, by thining the spruce around them.
Read MoreLast September we broke ground on our new Headquarters facility at Ardnaculla, County Clare. The new facility partially replaces the old farm sheds that were there when we established ourselves here earlier this year. It features indoor space perfect for gathering to learn about trees while sheltering from the rain on one of our busy tree planting and maintenance days!
Read More2021 was the most impactful year we had, celebrating a new headquarters and a site in Wicklow, a huge year, have a look back through these field reports for a month by month run down. Moving forward to 2022, what's on! What we will definatly do is plant over 50,000 native trees across our three sites, we'll work with Farmers for the EIP in Miltown Malbay and we know we will deliver over 100 tree-related workshops, our team have all settled in together and we are clear on the plan.
Read MoreAs part of the Woodland Forestry Support funding we have 10,000 native tree saplings to give away to Co Clare landowners.
Read MoreHometree has completed a survey of hedgerows at our Illuan Farm-Forest site, and the results are inspiring! Two of the hedgerows are ancient townland boundaries that date to the 8th century. These man-made structures have high embankments and deep ditches and support significant biodiversity.
Read MoreWe had heard of Continuous Cover Forestry, which would allow some Spruce to be removed while leaving the rest in place to provide a protective canopy for new saplings. But introducing a massive disturbance like this to an ecosystem is bound to have both positive and negative effects on biodiversity. So we needed a way to measure these effects over time, in order to ensure our actions are as restorative and healing as possible.
Read MoreLast autumn we got the fantastic news that Hometree has been approved by the Department of Agriculture to receive funding for a year-long European Innovation Partnership (EIP). Hometree’s EIP will be known as the Illuan Farm-Forest Alliance and will foster an alliance between landowners committed to enhancing on-farm biodiversity throughout the Glendine Valley in County Clare.
Read MoreNative woodlands are among the most biodiverse ecosystems in the Irish landscape. A new temperate woodland in Europe can take 100 years to reach similar levels of species richness. Plus, up to 80% of a woodland's plant diversity is found in its understory, which doesn't develop in a new temperate woodland as it does in native woodland.
Read MoreIn August 2020, we made our first offer on the land in Ennistymon, and in May 2021 we got the 'keys'. It's sixteen and a half acres of agricultural land just outside Ennistymon in County Clare. From the peak of a hill in the middle of the land you can see the beach of Lahinch and the mouth of the River Inagh.
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