The West Cork community will come together to plant 1,400 trees on the grounds of Dunmore House Hotel this Sunday, March 9th.
This article is featured in our Greener Living Winter 2025 supplement, which is in shops now, or you can read the full supplement here!
A part of a community initiative to reintroduce a native coastal woodland along the Wild Atlantic Way and the donated trees, all Irish species including oak, birch, Scott’s pine, hazel and rowan, will be planted on part of the old golf course at Dunmore House Hotel near Clonakilty.
This event is made possible with the help of The Olive Branch Health Food Emporium and Green Economy Foundation’s (GEF) ‘Trees on the Land’ project which has donated the trees.
‘Trees on the Land’ works with schools, community groups, councils and many other landowners to coordinate sites to accommodate trees.
Since 2013, the project has planted more than two million trees at several thousand sites.
Its vision is to establish tree cover and woodland in rural and urban areas that will grow for many years and provide valuable resources, beneficial ecosystem services and a lasting legacy for future generations.
Spearheading the tree-planting project at Dunmore are Olive Finn who along with her husband Andy Beattie, of The Olive Branch Health Food Emporium planted 1,000 native trees as a ‘thank you’ to their customers back in 2019.
Tree planting has always been a passion of Olive’s; and Carol and Richard Barrett of Dunmore House Hotel, are also hugely committed to running a sustainable business. Among their many accolades is the ‘50 Shades Greener’ award which they got in 2024, in recognition of the steps they’ve taken to reduce their carbon footprint.
Together these forward-thinking friends have brought the tree-planting project to fruition while Nikki Keeling from GEF will oversee the planting on the day.
‘We are badly in need of more coastal woodlands to draw in more wildlife and also protect our coasts,’ said Olive. ‘The planting is a brilliant example of what can be done when a community gets together – we’re already looking forward to the next one.’
This article is featured in our Greener Living Winter 2025 supplement – you can read the full supplement here!
