About Translink

Translink is Northern Ireland’s public transport provider, operating an integrated bus and rail network that connects people and communities across the region, as well as cross-border services to Dublin. Each week, Translink helps around 1.5 million passengers access work, education, health services, leisure and other everyday journeys, delivering approximately 12,500 services a day through a fleet of buses, coaches and trains.

The issue

Alongside its core role in public transport, Translink has a commitment and responsibility to embed sustainability and biodiversity into the way it manages its estate and infrastructure. Its rail network and wider land assets provide important green corridors for wildlife, with initiatives including Dagger Wood, living bus shelter roofs, bug hotels, swift nest boxes and a purpose-built bat barn at Muckamore providing much-needed habitat for local wildlife.

What Translink did

As part of Translink’s commitment to biodiversity, a ~20 acre site west of Lisburn city centre was identified for native woodland creation supporting our Tree Management Programme. The development of Dagger Wood also represented an opportunity for habitat expansion and re-connection as the site is adjacent to two existing woodlands (15 acres) owned by the Lisburn District Scout Association. A total of 14,450 native saplings were planted in 2022/2023 consisting of eight species of native tree (Scots pine, Alder, Downy birch, Silver birch, Pedunculate oak, Rowan, Cherry and Hazel).

Impacts and Outcomes

This shared commitment to environmental conservation has demonstrated a unique opportunity to collaborate and engage with youth organisations, whilst delivering environmental and carbon benefits. The positive long-term outcomes include:

• Carbon sequestration – Creating new woodland and planting a diverse range of tree species will significantly enhance carbon capture and will contribute to our journey to net zero.
• Biodiversity restoration – Extending our green corridor through woodland creation and planting native trees will enhance the site’s ability to support a wide range of flora and fauna and will help meet our ambitions to become nature positive.
• Community engagement – Dagger Wood and its environs has the potential to engage with 15 active groups from the Lisburn District Scouts, offering a range of activities for 4–18-year-olds. It also supports our Connecting Communities strategic objective as this project has actively involved local Scouting groups, collaborated with volunteers and established partnerships with conservation organisations.