Described by the Irish Times as a 'visonary forester', Noel Kiernan, a local forester, took on the development work, facilitating the planting of broadleaves under the Irish Forest Service grant scheme and experimenting with new species and mixtures.

Noel's background as a local farmer was key to addressing concerns held by local farmers, who have generally a negative opinion of converting land to forestry.

Ireland lost most of native forest cover centuries ago, so this along with memories of the Irish famine still has meant there is no culture or appreciation of sustainable community forestry in Ireland. Note: Ireland has one of the best climates for growing trees in the EU.

The 'local project' was fully funded by the Forest Service for three and a half years, during which 300 acres were planted, distributed between 13 sites.