ReWild Wicklow Get Some More Mulch Moolah

ReWild Wicklow with Wicklow Tidy Towns…

atest press release from Danny Alvey at ReWild Wicklow, issued on Wednesday, June 24th 2026…

Local environmental organisation ReWild Wicklow has received funding to hire its first ever staff members, marking a considerable milestone for the growing organisation.

The ReWild core 2021

Founded in 2022 by a small group of local volunteers who wanted to take action on restoring nature in the garden county, the movement has grown to over 2,000 volunteers.

In recognition of the valuable contribution the organisation has already had and the opportunity it has to grow into the future, it has now received funding to hire its first staff members.

These grants were awarded from the Heritage Council’s Heritage Organisations Support Fund 2026 and the Local Authority Waters Programme’s Catchment Support Fund 2026.

This year alone ReWild Wicklow has partnered on the planting of 15,000 trees across 20 different sites in County Wicklow from urban settings such as housing estates in Wicklow Town right up to the most remote locations in the Wicklow Mountains National Park with NPWS. The group has also built a community tree nursery near Newtown to specifically preserve the genetics of local trees from locations such as Glendalough.

For the first time this spring 1,100 trees were lifted from this nursery to be planted out in NPWS restoration projects. The funds received to hire staff will allow the organisation to grow and professionalise whilst keeping volunteering at the core of what it does.

“This is an incredible achievement for all of our volunteers to be recognised in this way,” said chairperson of ReWild Wicklow Danny Alvey. “Last year alone we had 66 volunteer days all throughout the year on nature restoration sites across Wicklow and South Dublin. Behind the scenes a core team of about 15 volunteers have been organising and running all of our projects until this point.

“But there’s only so far we can take it as volunteers, we need staff to help us really make a difference and to get these grants from two different organisations is going to be a game changer. We’re very excited to see where we go from here and how we can grow our impact on restoring nature at scale across Wicklow.”

Among the many projects the environmental organisation has planned this year, some of the highlights include an expansion of its community tree nursery, Glencree Valley riparian corridor tree planting, peatland restoration in the Wicklow Mountains, partnering with the EU-funded Waters of Life project and its fifth year partnering with UCD on the Snapshot Europe camera-trap mammal monitoring initiative.

The Heritage Council’s Heritage Organisations Support Fund 2026 and the Local Authority Waters Programme’s Catchment Support Fund 2026 are funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

You can find out more and join the volunteer list on the ReWild Wicklow website here, and jump back through their fine work here.