A free Farm Field trip with Farmer Ailbhe Gerrard from Brookfield Farm, Co. Tipperary

We are delighted to invite you to our upcoming Organic Agroforestry Field Trip on July 6th in association with Organic Farmer & Bee Keeper Ailbhe Gerrard from Brookfield Farm, Co. Tipperary -as part of our national programme of Agroforestry Farm Walks.

Please see below outline of programme of events for the day:

10.30am - Meet and greet ... tea / coffee 

11am - 1pm Guided farm walk with Farmer Ailbhe Gerrard (with Q&A opportunities)  

1.00pm - 2.00pm - Organic Lunch  

Short presentations  

2.00 - 2.30 - .Maureen Kilgore - Irish Agroforestry Forum 

2.30 - 3.30 - Brian Walsh - The Woodland League 

3.30 - 4.00 - Jason Mc Cormack - Foodtree - Edible Landscapes 

4.00 - 4.30  - Rights of Nature - Short 12 min film & Local Campaigns 

Irish Agroforestry Forum will host a stall of promotional and educational materials. 

BIO:  Ailbhe Gerrard runs a Sustainable Organic Mixed Farm in beautiful Co. Tipperary on the shores of Lough Derg, and also works on food, climate and biodiversity agriculture education. She is a bee keeper and also Director of an innovative arts amd agriculture project Field Exchange, A Creative Ireland funded multidisciplinary arts project. Brookfield Farm's Field Exchange was recently awarded a Special Commendation in the RDS Sustainable Rural Social Impact Awards 2024! 

Please visit here for more information on Brookfield Farm https://www.brookfield.farm/ 

The 75-acre holding has a diverse mix of tillage, forestry, certified organic lamb and a particular focus on bees, that help produce the award winning raw Irish honey and beeswax candlesticks that Ailbhe Gerrard successfully sells online and direct to her customers.Having availed of a range of agri-environmental grants funded from the Department to develop Brookfield into the farm it is today, a third of the land is given over to native broadleaf and bee-friendly woodland. A further 10 acres of wildflowers are sown each spring, providing a rich habitat for other pollinators and insects to live thrive and feed upon.Bat, bee and bird boxes can also be found along with plenty of wild bird cover which add to the rich biodiversity at Brookfield.Passionate about connecting people with methods of sustainable food production, Ailbhe is eager to show this by creating and protecting this first link of the food chain.The diversity on the farm extends to the fodder with mixed grazing grasses, clover and lakeshore herbs all enjoyed by her organically certified sheep.In addition to Brookfield’s bee products, tillage crops and organic lamb, Ailbhe, who has an MSc in organic farming, has formulated courses in sustainable farming and lectures at several third level institutions.  She also presents at Teagasc events and hosts open days on her farm, offering advice and sharing her expertise and experience with other like-minded farmers.Brookfield Farm is a prime example of high value nature farming.  Ailbhe’s hard work, planning and passion for ‘back-to-basics’ natural food production earned her a 2019 Farming For Nature Ambassador award.

They have also recently been featured in a beautiful "@Made With Love Ireland" Emmy award-winning documentary series by PBS

The series explores the legacy of craftsmanship through the skill, pride and love that go into legendary Irish products. From the spectacular cliffs on the Atlantic coast to medieval castles, Ireland’s epic landscape and rich culture are gloriously showcased.

We are delighted to be amongst the artisans of Ireland showcased.

Watch the trailer and learn more about the series at https://madewithloveartisans.com/ireland

With special thanks to our sponsors the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and the Marine (DAFM) for funding for this event under their Forestry Promotion programme

-Maureen Kilgore - Irish Agroforestry Forum https://www.irishagroforestry.ie/

We are really delighted to be joined for this Agroforestry Field Trip by the Irish Agroforestry Forum on Sat, where we will get an overview of the update of their work...

"The aims of the IAF is to promote the potential, and benefits of, agroforestry as a multifunctional land use option that integrates trees into agricultural and horticultural systems at a range of levels and spatial orientations, to sustainably produce nutritious, wholesome food and quality timber while delivering a wide range of ecosystem services"

Jason McCormack - Foodtree          www.Foodtree.ie

For our Agroforestry Field Trip on Sat we are also delighted to welcome as a guest contributor, Jason McCormack of FoodTree.. who will share with us the growing vision for food security here in Ireland, and about his work promoting edible landscapes and for example the untapped role of Cobnuts as a real potential in Irish agroforestry systems. Jason comes from a line of growers, horticulturalists, and stewards of the earth, with an upbringing incorporating time spent between his mother’s florists and his grandparent’s nursery in North Wicklow, gifting him with the ability to observe and work with the land. His passion to nurture and care for the earth sparked a particular interest in horticulture, particularly in the establishment of perennial food crops in Ireland.

Jason completed the organic grower’s internship (OGI) in 2016 and has since studied organic horticulture, receiving Hons MSc in Organic Farming from SRUC Aberdeen in 2021. Jason is also passionate about apiculture and keeps conservation beehives on numerous sites throughout Ireland. From 2017, Jason worked for the Irish Seed Savers Association nursery/orchard team. Four years with this pioneering organisation ignited him with a keen interest in fruit trees, edible crops, and the importance of food security on the island of Ireland.

In 2021, after the sudden passing of Andi Wilson from fruitandnut.ie (- see details in link below), Jason and a friend, Briain Walsh, co- founded foodtree.ie. The incentive of this new agroforestry nursery was to specialise in fruit/nut trees and native trees; whilst carrying on the legacy of the late legend.

The nursery is currently based in Tulla, Co. Clare.

In addition to growing and selling all varieties of trees, plants, and shrubs suitable for the Irish climate; FoodTree also provides consultancy, planting, education, and community engagement all over Ireland.... to make contact with Jason please email jasonsorganics@gmail.com

https://fruitandnut.ie

Brian Walsh The Woodland League - https://www.woodlandleague.org/

We are delighted to have Brian Walsh of the The Woodland League join us to present on "Reconnecting People and Trees" at our upcoming event on Sat, sharing on his work with The Woodland League and Close to Nature Forestry. Brian is a Forester and working for a private forestry company, with a keen interest and knowledge of Agroforestry and Close to Nature Sustainable Woodland Management. His work primarily consists of planting and maintaining young native woodlands in the West of Ireland. He is an active member of the Woodland League, working towards the aims to protect and restore the ancient oak woodlands of the Slieve Aughty mountains. Management.

With special thanks to our sponsors the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and the Marine (DAFM) for funding for this event under their Forestry Promotion programme.

Rights of Nature - Martina Finn and Alison Hough

On Saturday, we also welcome Martina Finn, CELT staff member,  share about her work with the Rights of Nature Galway campaign and recent efforts by Galway County Public Participation Network to get a Rights of Nature motion adopted by Galway County Council, as many Local Authorities have done in both the north and south of Ireland. We will screen a short film on the Rights of Nature by ejni.net https://ejni.net

"Essentially Rights of Nature is a way of re-thinking our relationship with nature: from one of dominance to one of sharing, caring, respect and interdependency. It can also act as a catalyst to shift our thinking from an extractive economy towards a regenerative economy. The idea of nature having rights is not new. Nature has rights. What is new is how we can intervene using a rights of nature lens to protect nature and to recognise the intrinsic rights of ecosystems and species to evolve, flourish, and regenerate."

Alison Hough

Sharing about her work on the Rights of Nature and the Rights of the River Shannon campaigns we are delighted to be joined by Allison Hough on Saturday -

Alison is a Senior law lecturer in the Technological

University of the Shannon (TUS) Athlone, and a researcher specialising in environmental governance and justice in the European Union. Alison leads the Access to Justice Observatory of the Environmental Justice Network Ireland (EJNI). She was called to the Irish Bar and formerly practiced in Dublin and on

the Midland Circuit. She has published on the Aarhus

Convention, environmental law and governance, public

participation law, Brexit and environment, and legal

technology and its potential to enhance environmental rights.

See here a link to some of the efforts to build support and recognition for the rights of the River Shannon as a separate legal entity. https://sdgs.un.org/partnerships/building-towards-recognition-nature-rights-river-shannon

Rights of Nature Campaign - Peter Doran  https://mindfulcommons.org/

For anyone who would like to find out more about the Rights of Nature movement, please visit the online gathering place for supporters of the recommendations by the Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity Loss for the incorporation of the Rights of Nature and the Human Right to a healthy environment in Bunreacht na hÉireann. - Shared Island, Shared Rights

"In the spirit of Amhairghin, we declare that the integrity and beauty of all our lives and the lives of the more-than-human are best realised as a dance of interbeing. This insight is embedded deep in our systems of myth, story-telling, language and poetry." Peter Doran

https://www.chemins-publics.org/articles/rights-of-nature-are-the-rights-of-ireland---towards-a-constitutional-referendum-like-no-other-copy-.