Applicant: Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland
Location: throughout Northern Ireland
Grant awarded: £109,500
Total project cost: £146,136
Grant programme: Heritage Grants
Type of heritage: Countryside and nature conservation
Aims of the project
Northern Ireland is one of the least wooded regions in Europe. The Trees of our Future project set out to conserve native tree species of local origin throughout Northern Ireland, and to provide people with the knowledge and skills needed to care for their own woodland heritage. It aimed to raise people’s awareness of Northern Ireland’s depleted woodland resources and to encourage practical involvement in natural heritage.
Background to the project
Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland (CVNI) has a long history of successfully engaging a diverse range of people in practical nature conservation activities. CVNI’s ethos of ‘learning through doing’ provides opportunities for people to turn their concerns about the environment into practical, sustainable action. The conservation activities organised by CVNI include tree and wildflower planting, urban park creation and the Green Machine, a learning resource for under 25-years-olds.
What did the project involve?
The project was based at CVNI’s tree nursery at Bangor, Co. Down, where some 200,000 trees are grown each year. It had two main strands: setting up a website and distributing leaflets, so that practical information about trees could be made readily available; and practical seed collection, planting & aftercare workshops, identifying & conserving native tree species and running workshops for schools and other groups throughout Northern Ireland. A website (www.toof.org.uk) was developed early in the project and went online in December 2002.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant funded the appointment of a project co-ordinator for three years (December 2001–December 2004). The workshops especially targeted young people in socially deprived areas, and were based in both rural and urban locations. Workshops were run throughout the year but were concentrated particularly in the autumn months. The project also included training courses for teachers and youth workers on growing trees from seed, woodland management, fundraising, and health and safety issues.
What difference did the project make?
HLF awarded its grant in 2001. Trees of Our Future used the grant to build on existing work to reach out to new audiences and created new skills within the groups and communities that were involved in the project. Workshop sessions reached some 900 children and adults (as of May 2004), helping to increase awareness and understanding of the natural heritage by future generations.
How did the project meet our criteria?
The project provided education and learning opportunities, particularly for children and young people. It contributed to environmental sustainability, and habitat and species conservation. It also increased access to the land resulting in the recording and digitisation of heritage assets. The project had a strong element of community involvement and provided training for volunteers.
Useful tips
Project Co-ordinator Andy Smith has the following useful tips:
Set realistic targets. It's far better to have a higher-quality input to a small number of groups than to try to maximise numbers.
Being too specific can limit your message. I have found that people are more interested in the bigger picture of issues like 'biodiversity' than simply growing trees.
If you're designing a website, spend plenty of time looking at links with other websites. Simply making a good website isn't enough if people don't visit it. One of the best ways to do this is by speaking to other individuals and organisations who run sites with similar interests and to share links.