Forest for the Future with NIFSA

As a business that designs and manufactures insulation products used across the UK & Ireland, we’re dedicated to reducing carbon emissions through proper insulation. Our operations are carried out in a way to create minimal environmental impact. Forest for the Future is an additional step we can take to help achieve net zero and partnering with NIFSA can help deliver this.

Northern Ireland Forest School Association

As part of their outdoor learning programme, we have teamed up with NIFSA, an independent Northern Ireland wide charity established in 2008. Its aim is to simply encourage more children to learn and play outside in the natural environment. They have been developing and delivering environmental education programmes for over 13 years.

NIFSA director Brian Poots suggested starting off the 2,000-tree planting project in the woodlands of Clandeboye Estate. Children will learn how to plant the tree, why trees are important and also how to care for their tree over the years. They will look after that tree and by doing so, grow to respect and care for nature all around them. Northern Ireland is also the least wooded region of Europe with less than 9% tree cover. Natural forests over the centuries have been cut down for ship building, industry and agriculture. This partnership will also help to redress some of this imbalance.

Because of the Covid restrictions, energystore itself has been unable to join the children's planting sessions, but once restrictions ease, we are hoping to hold planting days within the company and get into planting trees in local parks and schools across Northern Ireland.

"We were surprised to find that there was nowhere you could plant trees as a gift, so finding Brian was a real stroke of luck, and this fits in with our concerns about the environment. We're also committed to the manufacturing process being as sustainable as possible and this was an extra step we could take to reduce emissions."

Alex McCandless — Marketing Manager of energystore