St Joseph’s PS named winners of environmental competition

For their spectacular eco-friendly efforts, St Joseph’s PS in Caledon has been selected as a winner of a highly-competitive environmental competition.

The ‘Hedgerow Heroes’ competition, run by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful in partnership with Moy Park, received almost 50 entries – and there were only 11 winning spots.

To enter, schools had to produce both written and drawn submissions that illustrated why their school, and its surrounding wildlife, would benefit from a native hedgerow.

St Joseph’s Primary School was among the 11 winners from across the North. Each selected school will receive 20 metres of native hedgerow, planted by students.

Project workshops are already underway, with hedgerow planting expected to take place over winter and spring.

Education will be provided on correct hedgerow management, and schools will receive a follow up visit to support their developing hedges.

Emma Denton, biodiversity co-ordinator at Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, and one of the competition judges, said, “The standard of applications for the first year of the project was so high that choosing the winning schools was really difficult.

“All schools should be incredibly proud of their applications, and I would encourage anyone who wasn’t accepted this year, to please apply again next year.

“Through their applications, the 11 schools have already illustrated how much they know and care about wildlife and nature. I hope that, through the Hedgerow Heroes programme, we will be able to enhance their knowledge even further, and ignite their passion to protect the world around them.”

Over the course of three years, the Hedgerow Hero project will see a total of 33 schools plant 660m of new hedgerow for Northern Ireland, providing significant opportunities for biodiversity recovery.

The project is much needed: The 2023 State of Nature Report described Northern Ireland as ‘one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth’.

The new hedgerows planted as part of the project will act as a way of connecting isolated habitats together as a nature recovery network.

With time, they will also act as excellent places for education and provide opportunities for wild foraging. Hedgerows also provide a wealth of ecosystem services such as carbon capture, air and water filtration, crop pollination, and the reduction of soil erosion and flooding.