Full of altruistic new year's resolutions still? Got that green, motivated feeling? Well look no further. Irish Conservation Volunteers (ICV) have 10,000 trees to be planted before the end of the year, not to mention dozens of projects all over the country - from dry stone-walling to pond restoration - all of which depend on voluntary labour.
Set up in 1990 as an umbrella organisation for some 15 outdoors and/or conservation groups, including An Oige and the Tree Council, ICV now has 17 paid employees and an active membership of 500. "It costs £15 to join and you receive a copy of our monthly information pack with details of all our activities and conservation initiatives," says ICV's director, Melanie Hamilton.
The ICV's Millennium Urban Forest Campaign, which began in 1997 with the aim of planting 50,000 trees in Dublin, must be completed this year. Sponsored by Bord Gais, using land provided by the four local authorities, the project involves planting trees in a variety of areas: "Not just in public parks and schools, but also in places like Dunsink Dump," says Melanie. The trees are planted by community groups, local residents and schoolchildren: "People relate well to the process: trees are clearly an important, beneficial and long-lasting contribution that could last 200 years."
The trees that are being planted are mostly native hardwoods, like oak, ash, birch, beech, Scots pine and larch. ICV maintains the planted sites: "You need to revisit the sites for four years after planting," says Hamilton. "By then the trees are well established." She notes happily that very few of the newly planted trees have been vandalised: "We expect local people to get involved in looking after the trees, and they do. It empowers people and gives them a sense of responsibility for their environment."
The project is "an opportunity to educate people about the benefit of trees in an urban environment," adds Hamilton: "Trees enhance an urban area visually, but they also provide a wildlife habitat and they filter air and noise pollution." Native hardwoods are preferable to conifers: "It bothers us to see so much land given over to conifers. They cause acidification of nearby water courses and this has a knock-on effect on the fish, birds and riverside plants." She acknowledges "time is a major factor, because conifers grow so much quicker. They are a cash crop. Planting native hardwoods is an investment in the future."
ICV will advise groups on aspects of conservation in their own community, such as the environmental management plan that towns now submit as part of their application for the Tidy Towns Competition. This service involves a fee, "to cover travel expenses and to pay our employees," notes Hamilton. ICV also run various different courses on aspects of conservation.
ICV has ongoing projects in most counties, all needing volunteers, mostly in the summer (tree-planting is the major winter exercise): "People can stay more than one day if they like. We offer residential facilities and food," says Hamilton. "We advertise on the Internet and in international publications for volunteers, so we get a lot of people from overseas too. Often they combine their work for us with a holiday in Ireland."
Some of the projects, such as the restoration of the walled garden at Emo Court in Laois, are done in partnership with statutory bodies, like the Office of Public Works. "We provide training, supervision, tools and equipment," stresses Hamilton. "We realise that 99 per cent of our volunteers will never have done this sort of work before. It is physical work and we don't want people to over-strain themselves. But most of our volunteers learn something and they have fun too. They come back again and again."
For information, contact Conservation Volunteers Ireland, The Green, Griffith College, Sth Circular Road, D 8, or tel: (01) 454 7185