Branching Out for Tree Week
National Tree Week 2025 took place from Saturday 22nd November – Sunday the 30th of November. During the week Belfast Hills Partnership made it out for the first tree planting sessions of the year.
Now in its 50th year, National Tree Week marks the traditional start of the winter tree planting season. It is an an initiative from The Tree Council and partners. Belfast Hills Partnership celebrated the week by getting the first trees for the current planting season into the ground. At this time of year, young trees are dormant and so experience the least stress when being placed in their new homes. This gives them the best chance of thriving into maturity, with all the wellbeing and biodiversity benefits they bring.
2025 has seen an increase in extreme and unpredictable weathers as a result of climate change. Trees are viewed as one of a number of measures to mitigate against the climate crisis. Indeed, the benefits to planting trees are numerous; they reduce carbon in the atmosphere, reduce flooding, and increase urban cooling. Additionally, they support and enhance biodiversity which is crucial to addressing the biodiversity crisis across Northern Ireland and beyond.
School Planting
Local Primary School children have been consolidating for the future of the planet through tree planting. We had a wonderful tree planting session at Seaview Primary School and Nursery Unit as part of National Tree Week. Pupils from the Eco-Council did an amazing job planting 32 native trees around their school grounds. All of the trees were grown in our Tree Nursery by volunteers, from seeds collected across the Hills. We planted a range of native species including Rowan, Crab Apple and Silver Birch which will enhance the grounds for the school community as well as the local wildlife! Over the course of this planting season we hope to get out to 9 Primary Schools.
Trees for the Hills
The Belfast Hills Partnership’s team of Trainee Rangers enjoyed getting a taste for tree planting and woodland restoration. For some this was their first time planting trees.
They also got involved with woodland restoration at both Cave Hill and Old Colin Wood. Regular visitors to the Volunteers’ Well at Cave Hill Country Park may have noticed the area had recently been cleared of invasive cherry laurel thanks to the hard work of Cave Hill Conservation Campaign & Belfast Hills Partnership Volunteers. Our Trainee Rangers got stuck in to underplanting the area with native tree species.
The Trainee Rangers were also helping out Colin Neighbourhood Partnership in their woodland restoration at Old Colin Wood by clearing invasive snowberry. Clearing invasive species is an important part of woodland management and improving biodiversity. Invasive species, such as snowberry and laurel, inhibit the growth of other vegetation, such as new tree saplings, native flowering plants and vital ground cover plants such as bramble and nettles.
Forest in a Box
Our Forest in a Box project was first launched during National Tree Week 2023. The project has a very simple concept; it is a mini forest in a box. Each box is 1m x 1m in size and is packed with soil & leaf litter. This means we can engage in tree planting and learning about seeds and trees with organisations, schools and community groups that may have limited green space or may not have suitable space for tree planting.
We are delighted that the project has had another fruitful year. As part of Tree Week 2025 we returned to Edgcumbe Day Centre and Euston Street Primary School to harvest some of the saplings. These saplings will get planted across the Hills where they will hopefully continue to grow and reach maturity. We have replenished the boxes with new seeds and compost so that we can do the same next year.
The Forest in a Box project and school grounds planting makes up a small part of the engagement for Belfast City Council’s One Million Trees project. One Million Trees is a key programme to support climate adaptation across the city and support the wider Belfast Tree Strategy. This is not only to promote new woodland creation across the City, but also to highlight the importance of managing and conserving the trees and woodlands we already have.
Small Woodlands Grant Scheme
A week prior to National Tree Week, Minister Muir announced the return of the Small Woodland Grants Scheme. If you are a landowner who is feeling inspired by this article please get in touch. Our Woodland Officer, Laura, is able to assist you with your application, including conducting a site visit to help identify suitable planting space and aiding with your application. Contact Laura on [email protected] or 028 9060 3466 and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Applications close on Wednesday 7th January 2026 at 6pm. Further information on the scheme can be found by visiting the DAERA website.