Aldi plants 15,000 native trees along the ‘Kerry Way’

As part of Aldi’s commitment to planting 100,000 native hardwood trees over the next five years, Aldi recently planted 15,000 trees on a site in Muingaphuca, near Carragh Lake.

This is in addition to the 16,000 trees that were planted on a site in Rockfield, Limerick in December 2019. The initiative is the latest step in Aldi’s Carbon Reduction Pledge, which saw Aldi achieve Carbon Neutral status at the beginning of 2019.

The new plantation of native Irish woodland will help to encourage local flora and fauna, while aligning with the Government’s aim to plant 22 million trees a year until 2040.

The initial plantation of 16,000 trees will remove as much as 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The Muingaphuca plantation will remove a further 2,700 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This means that Aldi’s first two plantations will sequester a total of 5,750 tonnes of carbon emissions The next planting phase will take place within the next 12 months.

Working in conjunction with Green Belt, the site underwent a Forest Carbon Woodlands Benefit Assessment. As part of this assessment, it was established that the site was planned sensitively to enhance the neighbouring aquatic feature close to the project boundary, to enhance the local landscape and to create a new and diverse habitat along the ‘Kerry Way’.

Additionally, the site has been planned with significant setbacks throughout, enabling grassland to revert to more natural vegetation, further enhancing biodiversity in the area. The plantation will ultimately create a habitat for foxes, deer, badgers, squirrels, pine martens and many more.

The unique nature of this woodland is the re-establishment of woodland cover in an area with a strong history of woodland removal.