- COMMUNITY - NATURE - SCIENCE -
Green Restoration
IRELAND
Working to Innovate Solutions
Supporting community development through actions that restore our natural heritage and so help fight climate change and restore biodiversity and ecosystem services to our landscape
The Facts
Amount of carbon estimated to be stored in Irish peatlands which can be locked in through appropriate restoration work
The percentage of Ireland’s protected areas considered to be in a Favorable state
Length of Irish waterways remaining with High (Q5) water quality status
Our Projects
The Mayo Bogs Project
GRI Cooperative is restoring four raised and blanket bogs in County Mayo which will be used as exemplar sites for peatland community engagement and community and landowner-led restoration. GRI is working to help the owners restore these valuable habitats and find new ‘post-harvest’ uses and incomes
The Farm Carbon EIP
GRI Cooperative has been selected under the European Innovation Partnerships Initiative (EIP) and is being funded under Ireland’s Rural Development Programme 2014-2021. In the catchments of the Camcor, Little Brosna and Silver Rivers, we are working with landowners of farmed peatlands to create a results-based, agri-environmental scheme that rewards them for improving the environmental services of their farms by regenerating their farmed peatlands
Who We Are
Green Restoration Ireland Cooperative Society Ltd was established in 2019 and is working to innovate solutions to reverse the ecological degradation of the Irish landscape and the erosion of rural communities.
We believe that properly funded ecological restoration will provide many of the solutions to community regeneration. We take direct action to support rural development through actions that restore our natural heritage and so help fight climate change and restore biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Our Core Cooperative Values
GRI is a member of the Irish Cooperative Organisation Society (ICOS) and adheres to cooperative rules. The co-operative principles are seven in number derive from the principles established by the Rochdale Pioneers:
Cooperatives are voluntary organisations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, class, racial, political or religious discrimination
Cooperatives are democratic organisations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. Elected Board representatives are accountable to the membership. Primary cooperative members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote
Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the ‘capital’ of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative
Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organisations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organisations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy
Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their co-operatives. They inform the general public – particularly young people and opinion leaders – about the nature and benefits of co-operation
Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures to create social solidarity and economic independence
Cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members
Mission Statement and Vision
We are concerned by the the ongoing decline of rural Irish communities and the state of the world’s environment and its current trajectory and in particular, the growing possibility of runaway climate change and the catastrophic loss of biodiversity.
We are of the opinion that our fellow citizens share these concerns as well as a love of our natural heritage but have few means of addressing them.
Our Excellent Team
We are business people, citizens, community activists, ecologists, farmers, professionals and scientists united in the common goal of preparing the way for a sustainable future in an economically and ecologically revitalised Ireland.
Partnerships and Multi-stakeholder Cooperative
We employ a community-based approach where we engage with the local community and other relevant stakeholders and interested parties including businesses, cooperatives, county councils, NGOs, social enterprises etc. to create local groups to work with us to maximise the potential for sites as community resources for eco-tourism, environmental education, recreation and other selected uses.
We have partnerships and associations with Moy Rivers Trust, North Pennines AONB, Verra (LandScale), Mayo Environmental Network, other cooperatives and are a member of Mayo PPN.
Partners and Supporting organizations
