Funding was recently announced for a major project on Ireland’s western seaboard. The Wild Western Peatlands project will see Coillte Nature restore and rehabilitate approximately 2,100 hectares of Atlantic blanket bog that is currently planted with commercial spruce and pine forests.

Coillte is Ireland’s largest producer of roundwood, the raw material which our sawmill customers process into high quality timber. Sitka Spruce is our main commercial species and our annual production of 2.5 million cubic metres generates revenue of €120m.

When the first of Coillte’s Dublin Mountains forests were planted between the 1940 and 1960s, the city was a distant concern, both geographically and in the minds of the general public.

Coillte’s four Nurseries produces 25 million bare rooted plants every year, most of which are used to renew our own forests. Our four nurseries are spread throughout the country and the 7 million plants not needed for our own planting and restocking are sold to other Irish forest companies, independent contractors, or companies and agencies.

Sand dunes are beautiful natural places that are home to hundreds of plant and animals. What’s more, they help us by providing a recreational amenity, reducing the impacts of storms on the coast and giving refuge to pollinators.