Gift Tree Planting Project – Ireland

Project Description

The Gifted Tree’s planting project is in County Wexford, Ireland. Ireland is always portrayed as green, the Emerald Isle, but in fact, Ireland is one of the least wooded countries in Europe. This planting project will make it possible to create a real forest ecosystem with all its potential for biodiversity, a refuge for wild fauna and flora. The species of trees to be planted in this project include oak, birch, alder and other various hardwoods. The planting of dynamic species in this area will help recreate a functional forest ecosystem providing various ecosystem services. The growth of this new sustainably managed forest will capture atmospheric carbon dioxide, thus combating global warming. The diversity of tree species will give this forest greater resilience to the natural hazards such as storms, droughts and diseases that the forests of Europe are more and more regularly subjected to. This project will also bring a forest atmosphere to this agricultural plain landscape with a new landscape layer. Living trees have played a central role in the practical daily and spiritual lives of Irish people for centuries. Trees serve as landmarks and icons of family and clan identity and their importance can be measured by the great number of tree-based place names in Ireland – of the 16,000 towns in Ireland, 13,000 are named after trees!