Tuesday 21st May, 2019
Photos; Such a sunny day; spotted this beautiful butterfly, it must be summer!
FW: easy treesie Planting Party at Tolka River Valley Park with staff and students of Colaiste Eoin, Noel Rock T.S., Orla Farrell, Cllr. Alex White and Mary Callaghan
Evelyn Murphy, Orla Farrell, Cllr. Alex White, Maeve Corcoran White
It’s unusual for the children planting trees with the easy – Treesie Crann project to need sunglasses and sunblock at their planting parties as mass planting in the colder months is what they like best. But this National Biodiversity Week is a summer celebration as they re-visit many of their new woodlands to check them out and congratulate themselves on taking action on Biodiversity. One such ceremony took place in the wonderful ecologically-managed Tolka Valley Park which thanks to its careful tree planting and water management is one of the few city parks in the world boasting populations of salmon and trout.
Cllr. Alex White, who attended the ceremony, congratulated the children for their Climate Change initiative. “All across Europe people are concerned about the impact of climate change on our precious planet”, said Cllr. White. “Well done to all the children and their communities marking the planting of their 15,024th tree today during National Biodiversity Week. Well done also to Dublin City Council for being one of the 6 pioneering local authorities taking the lead in supporting this UN-backed global project where children “Plant for the Planet” in their nearest park with support from the charity Crann.”
Dublin City Council’s new Biodiversity Officer, Lorraine Bull listened with interest to the story of the project’s growth and answered the questions of the many supporters of the event, which included Noel Rock T.D. and local election candidate Mary Callaghan. Earlier this week Fermoy’s Gaelscoil de hÍde planted a roadside bee-friendly avenue of limes as County Cork contributed its 640th tree to the UN children’s tree counter. On Saturday strollers in St. Anne’s Park walked the Dublin Tree Trail, stopping by the Dublin City Farm to plant two apple trees to make provision for their new juice bar and apple-loving animals. Next Saturday the guided tour will pause at the farm to plant some large rootstock apple trees, specially chosen for their juicy sweetness. On Friday a similar planting party will mark the world Climate Action Day by planting Silver Birch trees in Portmarnock. And Biodiversity Week winds up for the project with a ceremony at Greenore, County Louth “Where the Mountains of Mourne Sweep Down to the Trees”.
Today’s planting took place at the first formal lesson in the oak tree “henge”, a giant circle of 12-year old oak trees which, with good conditions, could conceivably live to over 1,000 years old. Finglas children have planted mostly tiny saplings lining the river valley and today they had a chance for a change to do a project with instant impact. 3 native Hawthorn trees and a very splendid “Liquid Amber” tree were planted. This specimen tree was chosen for its stunning autumn colours which should be visible from the Cardiffsbridge Road at the end of the summer by the children as they walk to school. Since this week was also specially designated as a time to focus on the plight of the bees, the hawthorns were chosen for their special usefulness to the honeybee.
The children involved in this week’s planting party from Coláiste Eoin ETB on Cappagh Road declared it their Green School Day of Action. They launched their work on their Litter and Waste flag by doing a litter picking session in the park. They then made short work of planting the new grove of trees with help from the team from Dublin City Council who had come out early to do all the preparation work. To finish their task the children added a mulch of coffee grounds from a nearby coffee shop which would keep down the weeds while keeping down waste to landfill volumes. As this park was once in fact a landfill site, this gesture is a small step towards what we know is required of us all – many small actions locally making a difference globally. Crann provided elderflower and fruit-of-the-forest cordials to the thirsty planters after their hard work. Their school is working hard on reducing single-use plastic and the cordials could be added to their re-usable water bottles in place of disposable drinks containers.
Michael Burke of Dublin City Council has worked with local schools in the area over several years and welcomed the news that Colaiste Eoin, a short walk from Tolka Valley Park is the third school in the area to join the project. Michael and his team are now busy preparing the ground for the autumn planting season. The electric tools to assist in the planting work today were transported to the planting site by zero-emission car. Belgrove School, Clontarf, and St. Luke’s, Dr. Steevens’ and Clontarf Hospitals have also added Dublin trees to the counter. Should you wish to join in the fun, tickets are still available for many national biodiversity week events here, https://www.facebook.com/biodiversityweek2019/
ENDS
Contact Orla Farrell at orla@easytreesie.com
Easy Treesie 