Two beautiful forests in Cork are competing for the prestigious RDS Irish Forest Awards

Two cork forests have been shortlisted for the Irish Forest and Woodlands Awards in the Sustainability category.

Mallow Castle Demense and Town Park, 88 hectares of woodland and parkland located in the heart of Mallow town, has been nominated for the best Community Woodland, which is designed to recognize woodlands and woodland areas that have been created and managed in a sustainable way that is beneficial for the local economy and the environment.

Myross Wood in Leap in West Cork has been shortlisted for the Native Woodland Conservation Award, which recognizes excellence in the conservation and management of native woodlands considered ancient or long-standing.

Five Cork businesses and organizations have also been nominated for the RDS Sustainability Awards, which celebrate the work of individuals, farming families and organizations promoting the economic, environmental and social development of Irish agriculture and rural communities.

These include Brown Envelope Seeds, West Cork, run by Madeline McKeever and Hannah Denholm, Glenbrook Farm in Cork City, a free-range pig farm in Whites Cross set up by Peter Twomey and his family during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, and Blackwater Honey, North Cork, which was co-founded in 2020 by brothers Andrew and John Shinnick.

Norma and Tom Dineen from Bo Rua Farm

The BRIDE ‘Farming with Nature’ project, East Cork, which was established in 2018 to tackle biodiversity loss on intensive agricultural lands in the Bride Valley area of ​​East Cork and West Waterford, has also been nominated alongside Bo Rua Farm, East Cork led by Tom and Norma Dineen in Ballynoe.

The couple have embarked on a journey of cheese making on the farm, using the milk of their Montbéliarde and Friesian cows.

The awards ceremony will take place in Dublin as part of the ‘Finding Common Ground’ Festival on Friday 3 May.