TCV 01 StrategyDoc FINAL - Flipbook - Page 10
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Case Study: Environment
Engaging the community in native
propagation
Loss of native species is a growing concern, with landscapes that once supported
wildlife and promoted clean air becoming less and less biodiverse. For the past
30 years, our volunteers in Northern Ireland have been changing that.
TCV teams have been working with landowners and conservation bodies in
Northern Ireland to identify and plant native tree and shrub species such as
the currently under threat Spindle tree. The bulk of the propagation has been
carried out by our volunteers, who we’ve engaged in the collection of tree
seeds, propagation of seeds into saplings, and planting of saplings that we
hope will become future pocket forests for generations to come.
Based on a dedicated site at the Ulster Folk Museum in Cultra, County
Down, our volunteers have propagated over 1.5 million native trees
through a programme of conservation, education and engagement.
This work is delivered in two parts: across autumn and winter, we
train, support and mobilise volunteers to collect native seed stock;
in spring and summer, our focus shifts to propagation and growth,
before distributing bare root and potted trees.
We bolster native species and protect them for the future, we
establish species in areas where they’ve long been lost, and
we enable species to adapt to regional climate changes so
they can survive and thrive for generations to come.
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