Draft:The Invisible Tree of Rostrevor Oakwood

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“The Invisible Tree” stands in County Down at the entry to one of Ireland’s greatest ecological treasures, Rostrevor Oakwood - a rare example of extensive ancient woodland of this native species.

https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/rostrevor-oakwood-nature-reserve

One old sessile oak became known as “The Invisible Tree” following its “disappearance” in a 2012 tree survey and report supporting the construction of a substantial development consisting of 41 apartments and an underground car park within metres of its root and branch system on Shore Road, Rostrevor.

When the development received planning approval in 2018, the anomaly of the oak tree’s supposed invisibility’ led to action by the local community group Rostrevor Action Respecting the Environment (RARE). Their creative campaign gave the tree international visibility by celebrating its existence through local and international voices, music and the arts. The campaign was supported by world-renowned artists including Peggy Seeger, Liam Ó Maonlaí of the band Hothouse Flowers and Clannad’s Moya Brennan.

The fame of the tree grew in story, verse, paintings and cartoons and, in early 2019, its story was featured in the song and video “The Old Oak Wood Turns Green Again”, a work inspired by and in celebration of the growing number of campaigners working to protect the environment that sustains all life on the planet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYpwCDYW0Gc

On June 25th 2019, the song was performed at an event which manifested much of that growing energy for the protection of nature - the launch of the Environmental Justice Network Ireland. www.ejni.net,

In September 2019, “The Invisible Tree” was shortlisted for the Woodland Trust Tree of the Year Award.

https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2019/09/09/news/six-contenders-shortlisted-for-the-woodland-trust-s-tree-of-the-year-competition-1706758/

Following this shortlisting, focus sharpened on the story when professional photographers began to arrive in Rostrevor to capture an image of “The Invisible Tree” - a mission which highlighted the bizarre nature of the denial of the tree’s existence in the tree survey and report.

By the end of September 2019, visitors had arrived in Rostrevor to verify the existence of “The Invisible Tree” in sixteen different languages and, in October 2019, “The Invisible Tree” became even more visible when it was named Northern Ireland’s Woodland Trust Tree of the Year.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/mighty-invisible-oak-crowned-northern-ireland-finest-thanks-to-950-votes-38621739.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-50154945

The Tree of the Year Award widened the story to draw attention not only to the “disappearance” of the Rostrevor Oak but also to the uncomfortable truth of a culture in which some professional consultants are prepared to deny the existence of those parts of nature which may stand in the way of the financial ambitions of those “developers” who hire them.

This point was addressed in the letter/poem, “Rhyme for Justice?” addressed to the Lord Chief Justice and the Minister for Justice of Northern Ireland.

“When profit takes priority and nature’s in the way Consultants swear it isn’t there, but there’s a price to pay, For wilful blindness hiding in a world of countless lies Forgets to count on people not afraid to use their eyes.”

In the summer of 2020 “The Invisible Tree’s significance broadened to become a symbol for the silent people who have the power to address anomalies and injustice. Twenty five campaigners aged from 9 to 92 gave voice to “Rhyme for Justice?” and their performance was filmed in and around Rostrevor and outside The Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast. The result was a short film, “Rhyme for Justice?”, published on the website of Environmental Justice Network Ireland (https://ejni.net/films/) and featured in the 2021 NVTV Inheritance International Film Festival. https://johnlockeactor.com/dir/2021/03/27/inheritance-international-film-festival-of-the-environment-full-schedule-of-times-to-be-shown-saturday-27th-march-and-sunday-28th-march-2021/

In autumn of 2021, The Invisible Tree” story was featured on the BBC Radio Ulster Programme No Planet B: For the Love of Trees.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000nnv9

In the summer of 2022, County Down artist and calligrapher Miriam Marshall completed two handwritten versions of “Rhyme for Justice?” using ink specially made from oak galls which had been collected from “The Invisible Tree”. Her use of this ancient method of ink making, which dates back to the creation of famous works like the Magna Carta and The Book of Kells, gave further verification to the old oak’s existence and, at the same time, drew further attention to the misleading nature of the written word on the tree consultant’s 2012 report.

Due to the 2020-21 COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, an official presentation of these handwritten scrolls to the Lord Chief Justice and The Minister for Justice has yet to take place.

The Woodland Trust’s award of Northern Ireland’s Tree of the Year 2019 and the ever growing fame of the oak that was “disappeared” in a professional report will ensure that the ‘Invisible Tree’ will achieve even greater visibility, highlighting its importance to Northern Ireland’s ecology and heritage.

Today, signage towards the oak helps to ensure that members of the public are pointed, not only towards “The Invisible Tree” but also towards the need to address the problem of misleading information in reports by some consultants in regard to the existence of certain parts of nature.