Biodiversity at the Bar: Pocket Forests Planting at Distillery Building

Catherine Cleary and her team from Pocket Forests were on site at The Bar of Ireland last week to plant pollinator friendly organically grown native Irish plants in The Sheds courtyard and the front balcony of the Distillery Building as part of an initiative by the Environmental Sustainability Subcommittee to increase biodiversity in spaces around the Distillery building. All of the planters are either repurposed or made from recycled plastic. The Pocket Forest team will be back in the Autumn to plant a linear native Irish hedgerow/ pocket forest at the side of the Distillery building and will be running three workshops for members who would like to learn more about their work and how we can all contribute to the creation of pollinator friendly biodiversity pockets in surprisingly small spaces. Some of these workshops could be held on a Saturday for members who would like to attend with their families. 

Pocket Forests is a social enterprise working with many marginalised communities. They recently opened a tree nursery in Shelton Abbey Open Prison in a project which supports rehabilitation for prisoners and a role for them in climate and biodiversity action. The Bar is delighted to be able to support this entreprise and benefit from Catherine’s expertise in making the most of our few urban outdoor spaces.

Pictured: Bartholomew Begley BL, Peter Reid (Pocket Forests), Catherine Cleary (co-founder of Pocket Forests), Nuala Brangan (EHS Co Ordinator), Gavin Rothwell BL, Leesha O’Driscoll SC, and John Cronin (Estates Manager).