Kildare Communities Celebrate National Tree Week 2024
St. Anne’s National School in Ardclough, Co. Kildare marked the occasion of National Tree Week 2024, by planting 50 native trees on their school grounds. The project was a community collaboration between the Kildare County Council supported local biodiversity action group ‘BioArdclough’, and the school community.
The ‘BioArdclough’ group, like more than twenty such biodiversity action groups in County Kildare, have received financial support and specialised training, from Kildare County Council’s Heritage Team over the past few years. These supports have facilitated the development and implementation of local area biodiversity action plans, enabling the running of workshops, the purchasing of native plants, the procurement and installation of bat boxes and barn owl nest boxes, amongst many other measures.
In the case of Ardclough, St. Anne’s National School has already been supported to establish a native tree nursery in the local community centre garden, and the school community has been supported in running additional nature-based workshops for the students and teachers. The tree-planting to celebrate National Tree Week marks the first steps in the development of their own native woodland on the school campus.
Almost 50 students and staff from St Anne’s were happy to grab a shovel and wheelbarrow to get involved with this planting activity.
“It was great to plant trees together in our school. We learned about the environment and also how to work together as a team to create a lovely woodland area.” Róise, 3rd Class
“It was great fun! Really enjoyed planting the trees at my school with my friends” Arthur, 3rd Class
Brian McElvaney, Volunteer with BioArdclough “It was great watching the enthusiasm of the kids getting stuck in with their spades, examining earthworms and planting their trees so carefully. It was a lot of fun, as well as hopefully making a real contribution to biodiversity in Ardclough for decades to come.”
Class Teacher, Mr. Fitzgerald "The students were buzzing to think how different the school will look in 50 years, as the saplings they planted today will have grown into trees"
Amy Knightly, Class Teacher "The trees will support habitats for a variety of local wildlife and flora which will provide an excellent opportunity to engage with nature for generations of children to come. We are very lucky to have such an interest among our parents and local biodiversity community who were willing to share their time and energy with us today."
National Tree Week 2024 has also been celebrated far and wide across the county, with Kildare County Council busy distributing over 1000 saplings, including oak, birch, alder and scots pine to a golf club, a creche, a secondary school, a community group and three residents’ associations.
