We are very grateful to Belfast Hills Partnership, one of the organisations which is supporting the College with the restoration work on campus. The objective of this work is to protect ancient woodland which has been discovered on our campus. Last autumn, invasive species were removed bringing more space and light to the woodland. We reported on this in our Spotlight on Natural Heritage on the Hub last year, which can be accessed here.

Now we commence the second phase of work. Areas where invasive species have been removed will be replanted with broadleaf plants to help improve the woodland age structure, diversity and resitance to disease.

The College received 200 blackthorn and hawthorn wips this week for planting around our perimeter areas. This will help provide boundary security to the campus. Assisting our grounds team were students from Dr. Breen's agriculture class and Eco Club who took time out of class to help get all the planting completed. The wips have been planted near the back gate on Belmont Road. We are looking forward to seeing them grow in the months ahead. Thank you to all our students who braved the heavy rain and helped us complete the work!

Additional planting will be taking place on campus, we will report back soon on our progress.