Zurich employees volunteer at Fernhill Park

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown (DLR) County Council took over the running of Fernhill Park in 2016. The objective was to create a sustainable public park that can be used and enjoyed by the local community, while protecting the natural heritage, flora and fauna of the site.

A core part of the sustainable park strategy is keeping the meadows chemical free and full of a diverse range of plants and flowers to enhance biodiversity for pollinators. For part of the year, a small number of Droimeann cattle graze in the park – playing a key role in maintaining species-rich habitats by controlling more aggressive species, which would otherwise dominate these areas; and by preventing scrub encroachment.

However, dock leaves have a large storage root with regenerative buds at the crown and a high number of seeds per plant, which means the rapid reproduction of dock leaves can suppress growth of other plants and grass.

A large volume of these plants have now gone to seed which means manual intervention is required to cut back the stalks, and so a call for volunteers was made to which Zurich was happy to help.

Zurich employees took time out of their working day to help cut back the stalks in Fernhill Park. Those volunteering also received an educational overview of sustainable practices from DLR in Fernhill Park.

DLR appreciated the support and engagement from Zurich employees. Speaking about the day volunteering, Zurich’s Michael Vesey said: “It was a great day at Fernhill helping out and doing our bit for the park. At Zurich we recognise the importance of sustainability in our community and Zurich and its employees have shown a strong commitment and support for initiatives such as this one.”