News article
Fairyhouse Racecourse to plant a forest in100 Million Trees Project
Fairyhouse Racecourse, Levy Ireland, and Horse Racing Ireland have partnered to partake in the community driven “100 Million Trees Project”.
The initiative will see the County Meath venue become the first racecourse to plant a forest as it looks to increase its sustainability measures.
“Fairyhouse is delighted to have the opportunity to partner with Levy Ireland and the ‘100 Million Trees Project’, in this exciting venture,” said Fairyhouse Racecourse General Manager Peter Roe.
“Sustainability has become a focus for everyone, and this is particularly the case for Fairyhouse.
“We have selected a site overlooking the second last fence, to ensure this initiative will always be front and centre as we strive to lower our carbon footprint.”
The initiative was developed by brothers Richard and David Mulcahy and aims to see the planting of 100 million native trees across the island of Ireland throughout the next decade.
“Sustainability has become a focus for everyone, and this is particularly the case for Fairyhouse."
It aims to reverse the environmental damage caused by the reduction of forests worldwide and the loss of biodiverse areas.
To achieve this, the project will densely plant between 500 and 2,500 trees at a time across small areas of land using the Miyawaki method. This technique sees the overplanting of trees and was developed as a means to restore degraded land. It has been successful in creating more than 1,700 forests worldwide since its creation in the 1970s.
“We at the million-trees project are delighted to have the opportunity to plant a 2500 native Irish tree mini forest at the wonderful Fairyhouse Racecourse with the kind sponsorship of Levy Ireland,” said David Mulcahy.
“The mini forest will consist of 13 different native tree species, and hopefully will stand for many decades (and beyond) as a small contribution towards looking after our wonderful but under threat natural world.”
By planting multiple trees together, they grow 10 times faster and 30 times denser to create an area 100 times more biodiverse than through regular planting.