Planting a better future from the ground up

Building a better future is the theme of this year’s National Tree Day which is being supported by a former president of the Tree Council of Ireland, biologist, environmental and wildlife consultant, and broadcaster Éanna Ní Lamhna.

Primary schools around the country will plant 2,000 Scots Pine native Irish saplings next Thursday 2 October as the country celebrates the annual day of trees, which this year has ‘Building a Better Future’ as its theme.

Irish Country Living caught up with Éanna to learn more about her career as one of the country’s leading advocates for biodiversity and to discuss her passion for promoting the importance of nature among the next generation.

Growing up in Stabannon, Co Louth, between Castlebellingham and Ardee, the young Éanna was inspired to study science when she reached University College Dublin on a scholarship in 1967 by an older girl in her secondary school.

“I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s and I had only studied science to Inter Cert level as science wasn’t on the Leaving Cert curriculum until 1973. When I saw an older girl in my school choose science at university, which wasn’t the norm at the time, I decided if she could do it, then so could I,” she explains.

“I had a particular love of botany in university. Looking down the microscope fascinated me and by the time I finished my degree I decided I didn’t want to be a secondary school teacher. So I stayed on to study at postgraduate level and I’ve been working in the area ever since.”

Wildlife

Éanna’s first job came in Foras Forbatha Teoranta, the National Institute for Physical Planning and Construction Research Limited, which was absorbed into the Environmental Protection Agency in 1993, where she worked on distribution maps featuring the many plants and animals in the Irish countryside.

“My maps were full of hedgehogs, badgers and foxes because that is what people sent us – photographs of the wildlife from their land. No one considered rats and mice to be wildlife so from those maps you’d think vermin didn’t exist,” she says, laughing.

“Thankfully there’s a huge amount of formal education now in terms of the environment with a course in climate action and sustainable development now offered at Leaving Cert level and the primary curriculum has had social and environmental education since 1999.

“Younger classes in primary school are still encouraged to appreciate and enjoy nature, with this time of year the perfect opportunity to get out of the classroom for a nature walk. Children still love to collect acorns and conkers and create beautiful art by rubbing the crayon over the page with their leaves underneath, so it’s about nurturing that appreciation that begins from an early age.

National Tree Day has a new sponsor this year with Glennon Brothers, the third-generation Longford family business coming on board to promote the initiative.

Joint managing director Pat Glennon said the decision to partner with the Tree Council of Ireland was an easy one to make.

“For us the message is simple, Irish timber for Irish homes, from forest to front door. For every tree we use, new trees are planted to keep forests healthy and full of life. We want to share the story of sustainable Irish forestry and inspire the next generation to care for the environment, one tree at a time,” he says.

Fast-growing trees capture at least three times more carbon over 35 years than slower-growing species, and Éanna will be revisiting the children of St Laurence’s National School in Baldoyle, Co Dublin, where the children have been planting saplings every National Tree Day for the past 15 years.

“These saplings are only the size of a pencil when the children plant them but it’s amazing the difference 10 or 15 years make so I’m really looking forward to going back to Baldoyle to see all the hazel, holly and ash trees the pupils have planted down through the years.

“The junior infants children do the planting, so by the time they get to sixth class they can see the value of their efforts.”

Birdsong

Éanna believes there has been a growing appreciation of trees among the Irish public – an idea that was firmly planted during the pandemic, when many people became more aware of the beauty of their natural surroundings.

“Things have been improving over the past 10 years or so when it comes to a greater public awareness of the benefits of our environment but I think a real shift came during the COVID-19 pandemic,” she adds.

“Farmers are lucky enough to be out in nature all day. But for others, life slowed down, and people took time to go for walks and appreciate the natural beauty of their surroundings, especially with the 2km restriction in place.

“They listened to the birdsong properly, walking through woodland they may not have visited in a long time or ever before.

“They did this with their families and it helped people with their mental health and reminded us all that biodiversity helps to keep the world on track.

“It all begins with trees, they take the carbon out of the atmosphere, they provide homes for our wildlife, they’re lovely to look at and walk under and they’re great fun to climb.

“The whole point of National Tree Day is to educate the next generation on how crucial trees are. Going back 40 years at this time of year there was a nature table in the classroom where the teacher took children out on nature walks, to gather leaves and conkers and identify the different wildlife.

“We are still promoting this in the classroom with the posters and worksheets available on our website, which is getting lots of clicks at this time of year.

“The Scots Pine trees we are giving to primary schools around the country this National Tree Day are native to Ireland and its cones are food beloved of the red squirrel.”

Schools can claim one of 2,000 free Scots Pine saplings now at treeday.ie. The website also hosts ready-to-use classroom resources, nature activities, and facts about the Scots Pine to make lesson planning easy.