Boyne Floodplain Woodlands Project
Restoring the Boyne Woodlands
Our aim is to help restore the lost woodlands along the River Boyne, which are critical to protecting the water quality and biodiversity of the catchment. Restoring alluvial and riparian woodlands, will not only help in regulating water temperatures, stabilising riverbanks and preventing floods, but will also help revive the biodiversity and ecosystems of the Boyne and Blackwater Rivers—both recognized as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Areas (SPA).
We plan to grow thousands of native trees in our dedicated Tree Nurseries for planting along the rivers of the Boyne Catchment.
Background
Floodplain woodlands have almost completely disappeared from Ireland. For context the Boyne and Blackwater rivers were once 180km of contiguous riparian habitat. All that remains is just one location of c.16ha of original gallery woodland.
With summer temperatures in the Boyne Catchment reaching over 20°C, the Atlantic Salmon are under severe thermal stress, coupled with the pollution levels in the water and other environmental impacts, the very survival of the Salmon and other species and habitats is under threat.
While our starting point is bleak, the need to address the conservation condition of this habitat, improve water quality and build climate resilience have created an opportunity for restoring some more natural river dynamics and habitats. This is the aim of the Boyne Floodplains Woodland Project.
Support our work
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What We Need
Our project was established in 2023 with a tentative 2,000 trees propagated from source seed collected in the Deel and Boyne sub-catchments. With a helping hand from Coillte and LAWPRO we now have capacity for 20,000 trees in 2024. To make this step a reality we need to build our infrastructure, resources and community hub. Generous support by donors is vital to help restore our floodplain woodlands and all the wildlife which depends on it. Regular donations underpin all that we do – they help us to plan ahead and make the most of your contributions to deliver a real difference to the future of the River Boyne.
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Our Woodland Community
The key to restoring our river woodlands is people. If you are an individual who wishes to get involved in our work please get in touch. Every seed collected, propagated and tree planted is step closer to a river landscape in better health than we inherited it and better able to face the challenges of the future. If you own a business in the catchment and can support us, we would welcome a discussion around sponsorship opportunities and how we can align and share our brand values.
Project Updates
To date we have hand-collected and propagated thousands of local tree seeds from source in the Boyne sub-catchments. The seeds have been potted up and cared for while we sourced an appropriate site and funding for a Tree Nursery in the catchment. We have since secured funding for a second Tree Nursery to start in September 2025.
Volunteer Seed Collection Day
National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) kindly accommodated Boyne Rivers Trust to hold a Community Seed Collection Day at Brú na Bóinne National Park in September. The BRT team and a group of energetic volunteers collected native seeds for propagation in our tree nurseries as part of the Boyne Floodplain Woodlands Project.
Thanks so much to our wonderful volunteers, who helped us collect seeds of alder, oak, hawthorn and ash. Every seed collected, propagated and tree planted is a step closer to a healthier and more resilient river landscape.
Our New Tree Nursery at Townley Hall
We’re delighted to have installed our second Tree Nursery as part of our Floodplain Woodlands Restoration project, aiming to restore the native woodlands of the Boyne River Catchment.
To date we have hand-collected and propagated thousands of local tree seeds. The seeds have been potted up and cared for, and are now growing in our dedicated Tree Nurseries in Athboy, and more recently Townley Hall. Work will continue in both Tree Nursery sites in 2026, propagating seed, transplanting saplings, and caring for this precious stock of native trees, which will eventually be planted out along the Boyne Catchment.
