South Dublin County Council has announced plans to plant a "mini woodland" following the recent destruction of trees in Dodder Valley Park.
Last month, vandals cut down or damaged up to 75 trees in the park causing damage of around €33,000.
At the time, Mayor of South Dublin Alan Edge described the destruction as a bizarre, targeted act of vandalism.
The council said that 25 mature trees had been cut along with 50 saplings.
Today, the council has announced plans to start a mini woodland with the help of a number of local community groups.
The council explained that mini woodlands are "small, dense, rapid-growing plantations of entirely native species in an urban setting".
"They are sometimes referred to as Stepping Stone forests as they allow wildlife to move from one woodland to the next woodland encouraging genetic diversity as well as providing a natural refuge in urban and parkland areas," said the council in a statement.
The council said establishing the woodland would be a two-step project.
It explained: "The first step is to add cardboard and mulch to the ground [on 31 May and 1 June]. The second is the planting of over 3,000 mini woodland trees, this will happen in the autumn."
"For every one tree vandalised in the recent attack in Dodder Valley Park, 40 mini trees will be planted as part of this mini woodland," said the statement.
The area chosen within Dodder Valley Park is along the M50. The council said that the planting of dense native woodland in that location "will not only strengthen the ecological corridors present, but also greatly assist in combating climate change and dust particles from the motorway".
