Waterloo Community take on Climate Action this festive season

Waterloo Renewal gets in the festive spirit with planting trees for the future.

While most people were rushing around the shops on the second last Saturday before Christmas, the community in Waterloo came together for a different type of activity: climate action. Waterloo received just over €2,000 under the Community Climate Action Programme Fund managed by Cork City Council and funded by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications. They had a simple plan; to use the space in their community for the much-needed climate action of planting trees.      

Waterloo Renewal started some 17 years ago as a local litter picking group. Whilst still in the county they applied for and were successful in getting "Leader" funding for local project. This is funding that supports community-led rural development work. In Waterloo Renewal's case this allowed them to build a superb walkway that links Blarney to Waterloo. In 2019, they came under Cork City Council’s remit with the expansion of the city. They have continued from strength to strength, and in partnership with Cork City Council, they remediated the local part of the River Martin. 

Deciding what trees to plant

Community members, Mary Keohane and Jim O’Leary spoke to us about their plan for the planting. They are experienced tree planters and know that the quality and age of the sapling going into the ground can reduce the risk of the tree dying. Through public procurement principles they sought three quotes, and the West Cork-based business “Future Forests” came out on top for value and quality.

They are planting a mixture of oaks and heritage apple trees. “Food for nature, food for us” was one of their ideas when deciding what to plant. The apple trees have a double benefit of being great pollinators in Spring and producing delicious fruit in Autumn. We are looking forward to the invite to apple festival in a few years! As they chose heritage apple varieties, it means that they are supporting a living piece of history whilst the genetic diversity also guards against disease.

Visiting Waterloo

Waterloo is a wonderful place to visit, especially over the winter holidays. The community light up the area with twinkling lights, turning it into a winter wonderland that will delight all ages. There are two car parks in the area for those driving, but its also possible to reach the village from the city via a bus and walk from Blarney. The 215 brings you to Blarney and from here it’s a 2.8km walk. Key in St Mary’s Church into your map app on your phone to bring you there.

Shake off the cobwebs and turkey dinner, and make Waterloo one of your days out during “Twixmas”: those days between Christmas and the New Year!