Sir, – Darragh Murphy asks "Why is just 10 per cent of Ireland covered in trees?" ("Ireland's native woodlands are quietly disappearing", June 19th).
Crann – Trees for Ireland is a voluntary organisation whose aim is to promote the planting of trees, especially those native to Ireland. A joint initiative, of which I am the project group chairwoman, in partnership with Birr Castle, is Giants Grove (giantsgrove.ie), the planting of a thousand redwood trees in the grounds of Birr Castle in Co Offaly. Redwoods were once native to Ireland, and at Birr we are bringing them “back home”, creating the largest plantation of giant and coastal redwoods outside of California.
Crann’s patron, President Michael D Higgins, said at the launch of Giants Grove, “The planting of these mighty trees, here, at the heart of Ireland, is not just an extraordinary silvicultural undertaking. It has been devised to symbolise, too, the abiding bonds that unite those who have passed away and their loved ones and the equally strong bonds through which Irish people all over the world are connected to this island”.
He further said: “We all know how vital trees, forests, and woodlands in general are to our collective future”.
These redwoods will be growing for the next thousand years, creating the perfect ecosystem, of which we can all be proud. – Yours, etc,
CLARA CLARK,
(Chairwoman,
Project Management Group,
Giants Grove),
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.