Supports have been made available to make sure that the opportunities are there for anyone with suitable land to plant trees and establish new forests.

Supports have been made available to make sure that the opportunities are there for anyone with suitable land to plant trees and establish new forests.

That’s according to Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Forestry, Farm Safety and Horticulture, Michael Healy-Rae, who attending the Teagasc stand at the National Ploughing Championships earlier this week to announce the winners of the ‘Trees in our Lives’ photo competition.

“Forests create employment, produce wood as a sustainable Irish product, support our climate goals, support biodiversity, and improve our health and wellbeing. Forests have a critical and lasting influence across generations, which is clearly reflected in this competition, with prizes awarded across both adult and junior categories,” Minster Healy-Rae commented.

This year’s competition, celebrating ‘Trees in our Lives’, featured three themes and incorporated both adult and junior age categories. Each theme winner was chosen by a panel of judges and the final selection of the overall winners in each age category was by popular choice.

The overall winner in the adult category is Richard Duff from Portlaoise, Co. Laois, and his striking image highlighted the great biodiversity and habitat value of forests and trees. In the junior category, the deserving winner is Kendrick Urquhart from Sligo. Kendrick’s winning image features a family of geese on the serene waters of Clare Lake in Claremorris.

View the winning entries in the Trees in our Lives photo competition here.

Congratulating the competition winners, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with special responsibility for Forestry, Farm Safety and Horticulture, Michael Healy-Rae said: “I am delighted to present these prizes to Richard and Kendrick as the overall and highly deserving winners. I would like to sincerely thank the hundreds of competition entrants for highlighting such excellent examples of the many roles forests play in all our lives.”

“I would also like to thank my Department and Teagasc for their important work in promoting and celebrating the variety of themes in this year’s forest photo competition,” Minister Healy-Rae added.

“They clearly reflect the excellent supports available to farmers and landowners within our current Forestry Programme,” Minister Healy-Rae added.

More from Teagasc Daily: ‘Trees in our Lives’ photo competition winners announced