TU Dublin Students and Staff lead action for Biodiversity on the Tallaght Campus
The TU Dublin Biodiversity Plan aims to promote various initiatives on our campuses and in our local areas to reduce human impact on our planet. As part of this overall approach, TU Dublin students and staff worked together with the community to plant an urban forest on the Tallaght campus.
The project supports TU Dublin’s Sustainability Objectives and the Connecting with Nature - Draft Biodiversity Action Plan for South Dublin County. This was the first of several projects designed to enhance our campus environment and promote biodiversity, while also offsetting the CO₂ emissions we produce. The forest on the Tallaght campus was planted in collaboration with local community organisations and volunteers, with whom we have and will continue to engage on similar environmental projects in our region. It was designed to align with a module on Active Citizenship, developed as part of a HEA-funded project, Transform Edu.
Planting an Urban Forest on the Tallaght Campus
The design of an Urban Forest at Tallaght Campus began in September 2021 and was supported by John Kiberd, Stepping Stone Forests. Stepping Stone Forests are small densely planted forests of native Irish trees. The method of planting these small forests is inspired by the world-renowned botanist Professor Akira Miyawaki. The soil preparation and dense planting ensures that these forests grow and develop extremely quickly.
The Soil Preparation Phase, began in December 2021, which involved cutting the grass and putting down cardboard and mulch, supported by students, staff and community groups. John Kiberd and Rachel Freeman, Lecturer in Horticulture at TU Dublin, managed operations.
The Tree Planting Phase
The Tree Planting Phase was embarked on during March, 2022, and was again supported by individuals and community groups, including Stepping Stone Forests, Tallaght Community Council, and Dodder Action. Together the over 30 people planted hundreds of native trees (blackthorn, hawthorn, black alder, hazel, spindleberry, silverbirch).
The Schools Forest Programme
March 2022 was an exciting month which also saw a collaboration with the Tallaght Community Council where forests were planted at local schools, including Killinarden Community School. The group had left over bare root trees from the previous activity and these were to donated to the school. Between the University and Killinarden, over 1,000 trees were planted. Senior Lecturer in Electronic Engineering Gerry Stockill is the secretary of Tallaght Community Council and supported this and many other green initiatives.
The Next Phase
The next phase involves a plan to rewild areas of the Tallaght campus. Rewilding involves restoring an area of land to its natural uncultivated state with the reintroduction of species that have been driven out or exterminated. Public and private institutions, as well as businesses as well as community groups can do much to ‘rewild’ smaller areas of land and provide valuable habitats for flora and fauna. The next step is to plant more evergreen trees at the urban forest site on campus and a wildflower meadow on a stretch of land at the Belgard Road entrance.