Kilmore Care of Creation Group are working in partnership to give nature a helping hand on the grounds of The Conaty Centre, Cavan.  

The Tiny Forest Initiative entered its second phase last Saturday morning with the preparation of a 5 square metre site for planting with native trees. 

This LEADER funded initiative saw a good turnout from local community groups who having participated in today’s demonstration site will go on to create small native pocket forests in their local areas.  The John Paul II Award students also participated in this awareness- raising, educational and hands-on environmental initiative.  It was a day of educational and hands on experiential learning where everyone had the opportunity to see how everything in nature is connected, interconnected and interdependent. Trees have a value in and of themselves. They also give us so much. They are a food source for nuts, seeds and leaves, many trees have a medicinal value, they provide shelter for animals and timber for various purposes. They evoke beauty, awe and wonder.  

Pope Francis published two documents in which he addressed every person living on the planet. The first was in 2015 called Laudato Si’  on Care for our Common Home, the second in 2023 called Laudate Deum on the Climate Crisis. Both documents invite us into ‘right relationship’. The recently elected Pope Leo XIV  opened the “Borgo Laudato Si'” (Laudato Si’ Village) at Castel Gandolfo in September 2025 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the encyclical Laudato Si’.  The Kilmore Care of Creation Group contine in their work to be inspired by these teachings.

Forests are vital to our local ecosystems.  They maintain soil health, filtrate rainfall, and provide a wide range of benefits for biodiversity. It can be said that humans and trees have a symbiotic  relationship based on mutual survival. We humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide and trees breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. We need each. Our ancestors recognised the value and importance of trees and referred to them as sacred.

Given the global climate emergency, the frequent and accelerated storms that we are experiencing at a national level not to mention the prevalence of ash die back locally, every effort to plant trees is a win for nature. Native trees have naturally adapted to local environmental conditions and co-evolved with our local flora and fauna over thousands of years. Native trees have deep tap roots followed often by lateral tap roots and so they provide stability, and are drought resistant and can act as shelter belts. Native trees are more likely to remain standing after severe storms when compared to the wide but shallow roots of for example, the sitca spruce trees that were planted in Ireland and are vulnerable to strong winds.

We are part of nature. Working together through, with and in nature is community at its best.

Bishop Martin Hayes and the St Patrick’s Trust are supportive of this tree planting initiative. There is a team of volunteers already working on the grounds of the Conaty Centre, Cavan and so far they have planted hundreds of trees, along with hedges and seasonal bulbs.

Many thanks to John Toland of CCLD, Bishop Martin Hayes of the Kilmore Diocese, Patricia Keenan, Chairperson of The Kilmore Care of Creation Group, Daniel Monaghan, Forester and Education Specialist, Roisin Grimes, Ecologist, and all the fantastic members and volunteers who are making a positive contribution to our natural world.  

COP30 takes place in a few weeks. Lets hope that our world leaders will listen and respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the suffering. We cannot continue with the business as usual model. Its very simple, if we want the earth to be a place in which we can all thrive, then we must come together and make our voices heard