Engineering and construction firm John Sisk & Son has partnered on another tree planting site in Skibbereen, Co. Cork.

This forms part of Sisk's commitment to planting 1.7 million trees by 2029, one of its targets in its ambitious 2030 Sustainability Roadmap, aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Sisk's group of 15 staff volunteers got stuck into help plant the trees working in partnership with the landowner, SWS Forestry and the Department of Agriculture’s Woodland Environment Fund.

Through the Woodland Environmental Fund, Sisk has helped fund the planting of 445,000 trees to date across Ireland and is on target to complete 1.7 million trees as native woodland in Ireland, the UK and wider Europe by 2029.

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This 14-hectare site was planted with native Irish broadleaf trees. The planted saplings are primarily native broadleaf (Oak, Birch, Alder, Whitehorn) with pockets of native conifer (Scots pine). This mix will provide greater habitat and species diversity over the years.

Sinéad Hickey, Head of Sustainability, Ireland & Europe, John Sisk & Son said: "We are delighted to have partnered with the landowner, SWS Forestry and the WEF Scheme through the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine in Co. Cork. We have a target to plant 1.7 million trees by 2029, which forms a part of our wider sustainability roadmap. This is an important step in our journey and demonstrates our commitment to a range of sustainability topics our company and wider industry needs to address."

By the planting of this Native woodland the landowner has demonstrated commitment to the sustainable management of forestry and native woodlands in Ireland. This will also support Ireland’s plan to tackle climate change by planting 440 million trees by 2040.

The planting of this Native Woodland was run by the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine through an establishment grant and 20 annual premium payments.