Once again, LEAF Ireland was delighted to receive funding from the Department of Food, Agriculture, and the Marine (DAFM) under the Forestry Promotion Projects 2023/2024. This work built on the previous DAFM funded projects. 

LEAF is an international programme with FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education) run nationally by An Taisce

The overall aim of this pilot project was to promote and create greater awareness about the important role healthy and resilient forests play in reducing and mitigating extreme weather events, securing livelihoods and supporting circular economy, while also meaningfully contributing to biodiversity and climate goals. The focus groups for this project were school teachers and trainee teachers. 

There were three main elements to the project:

  1. Teacher Training 
  2. Research and Upskill and; 
  3. the creation of a series of short promotional videos.  

For the Teacher Training element, LEAF worked with Biodiversity Partners to design and deliver the workshops. LEAF engaged with the three teacher training institutions, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Marino Institute of Education, Dublin, and St Patrick’s College, Dublin, four secondary schools and one primary school to host a series of outdoor, educational forest workshops with the soon to be teachers and existing teachers. Participants had an opportunity to learn about trees and how they support the bioeconomy, how they help with climate change mitigation and enhance biodiversity. With the intention that these teachers will pass on this knowledge to their own students.  

The workshops were meaningful and relevant and proved to be hugely beneficial to all involved.   


I found the workshops extremely interesting and valuable. The students were engaged as both learners and future educators. The content of the session was delivered in a way that was accessible to the students and provided them with confidence to try these methods in the future. 

I would like to see these sessions included in our schedule on a yearly basis. I think the progression of learning from session one to session two was logical and well-informed and offered the students an opportunity to reflect on learning as well as bring the years’ experience of teaching into the second session.’ 

Lisa Clarke, Assistant Professor in Primary Geography Education and Social, Environmental and Scientific Education, St. Patrick’s Campus DCU.  


Working with the secondary level teachers was extremely important to open the discussions about forestry, nature connection and well-being.  It also offered exploration of how we use trees and wood and the range of careers available in the Forestry sector. 

The second element involved researching the benefits of planting little woodlands on schools and college grounds and upskilling participants in the various methods of recording. 

The Forestry Strategy states that biodiversity is at the very foundation of our environment and forests can be among the most biologically rich ecosystems on earth. LEAF carried out workshops, using existing Choill Bheag (little woodland) sites to carry out research into the benefits of planting trees. Participants were trained in the various methods of recording (transects, quadrats etc.) and shown how to engage in Citizen Science, recording the species diversity and numbers found in these newly created woodland habitats.  


‘These sessions are powerful and have a huge impact, every student teacher should have access to them on a regular basis.’ 

Anne Dolan, Associate Professor and Primary Geographer, Mary Immaculate College. 


The Research & Upskill element was an essential part of this project. It enabled LEAF to promote Citizen Science and build on the vital work of the National Biodiversity Data Centre (NBDC), gathering data to map the current state of biodiversity in Ireland. This in turn feeds into Biodiversity and Climate policies, including future national and local planning. Sharing the practical skills and IT resources in both classroom and outdoor settings is an example of best practice in supporting teachers in blended active outdoor learning; and is a stepping stone for students considering this work as a future study choice and career. 


‘The planting of the An Choill Bheag on the college campus was transformative, it’s not just the geography classes that benefitted, other classes are using this wonderful new space. With regards, to the workshops, they simply weren’t long enough or frequent enough, we need more of these engaging hands-on workshops.’ 

Sandra Austin, Senior Lecturer in Social, Environmental and Scientific Education at Marino Institute of Education, Dublin. 


You can contact LEAF directly by clicking here if you would like to learn more about project options to —

  • Restore existing habitats
  • Connect existing habitats
  • Identify nature trails
  • Create native woods
  • Create hedgerows

LEAF works with local authorities, government departments, educational institutions, communities and businesses.

The programme has a short brochure, for more information click page below:


A series of short promotional videos were created about the projects and can be viewed below: