THE Woodland Environmental Fund (WEF) aims to help create business value from restoring Ireland’s native woodlands, with a briefing event planned for Dublin's Science Gallery in November.
The WEF is a platform for Government, the business community and landowners to work together to help meet planting targets set out in the Climate Action Plan 2019. An Post is the first organisation to commit to the WEF programme, supporting a new native woodland in Galway, working with Natural Capital Partners - a global leader in financing climate solutions through collaboration with business – and with the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine (DAFM).
If a business would like to learn more about the WEF, a breakfast briefing event is being held at Trinity College Dublin in November.
Where: The Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin.
When: 8am - 9:45am, November 28th, 2019.
Under WEF, businesses can be associated with individual native woodlands and use the environmental benefits linked to these forests to demonstrate that they are meeting their responsibilities to the local environment and community. This ties in with DAFM’s existing afforestation scheme which covers 100% of the cost of establishing native woodlands and also pays an annual premium to the landowner per hectare for a 15-year period. The WEF includes an additional once-off top-up payment per hectare financed by the business to the landowner, and the business can report the resulting estimated carbon emission reductions against its footprint.
RSVP to WEF@agriculture.gov.ie by Friday, 15th November 2019. For queries on this event please contact Karl Coggins at karl.coggins@agriculture.gov.ie or learn more about the WEF initiative at Woodland Environmental Fund.