I have been a member of my local Parish Council for about two years. Three months ago, I saw an opportunity to take action on the environment and at the same time help build the Parish community.


I put a notice in the Parish bulletin asking people to join an environment group. Ten people turned up [came], and we started work. Our first project was to plant five hundred trees on the grounds of the Church. 


I quickly learned a lot about the environment. For example, Ireland was once so forested that a squirrel could travel from Belfast to Cork (three hundred miles) without touching the ground. However, today forest is only about ten per cent of Ireland’s total land surface. This is the second lowest level of any country in Europe.


For this and other reasons we decided that planting trees together was one of the single most important actions we could take to help the environment. Organising the two-day event involved collaborating with many different people and organisations (religious, political, community, voluntary, and educational). I learned to stand (have a place) with other community leaders.


THE RESULT


The project exceeded all expectations, both in terms of the number of trees planted and in the level of community engagement. 


We had only three months to get organised. It seemed impossible at the beginning, but now five hundred trees have been planted. About two hundred people took part. There could have been more people—we had to turn some of them away at the end when we ran out of trees. 


People clearly had a sense of community while they planted the trees. There is something about digging in the earth and planting something for future generations that draws people together. People were relaxed and talking together in a way that I think is less likely to happen at other kinds of events.