Eoghan Daltun has been named Cork Person of the Month in recognition of his environmental work and his efforts to create a rainforest near Eyeries on the Beara Peninsula.

He will now go forward with the other monthly winners of the award for possible selection as Cork Person of the Year, which will be announced in January 2027.

Accepting his award, Eoghan said: “Living on the Beara Peninsula and supporting the creation of this rainforest has been an amazing experience.

West Cork is an extraordinary place with an incredible natural heritage, and I'm proud to play a part in enhancing its biodiversity.”

He added having this recognised through the local authority’s Person of the Month awards was a real honour.

His third book about rewilding nature, Setting The Land Free, had a local launch at Bantry Bookshop last Friday.

In it, he makes a plea for a policy shift in land management across Ireland.

He said: “This book makes an attempt to chart rewilding ideas. I’ve visited people who are rewilding and working for nature in other ways.”

The book shines a light on projects in Scotland, Costa Rica and from all over Ireland, including Bantry.

“One of the things I talk about is the campaign to protect the kelp forests of Bantry and there’s also a romantic story linked to that,” said Eoghan.

The rainforest on his 73-acre farm was highlighted in a documentary film and an RTÉ two-part series with narration by farming journalist Ella McSweeney.

Both the series and film were directed by Gary Lennon.

“They are different versions for different audiences,” said Eoghan.

“The film showing in cinemas is much slower and more immersive. You feel like you’re in the rainforest. The production for RTÉ is a bit faster and some material has been removed and added.”

He said the main thing he’s currently advocating for is giving farmers the option of being paid to rewild their land.

“It’s really important to emphasise that I don’t agree with anything being forced on farmers, but I think they should have that choice.”

And he addressed criticism sometimes directed at him for allegedly going against farmers for speaking about what he calls monoculture dead zones.

“It absolutely is not,” he said “For example, if you say that a monoculture field of ryegrass offers nothing to nature. That’s a statement of fact but not a criticism of the owner of that field, particularly in the current situation where land owners have been pushed towards maximum production.”

He added the most important thing was that farmers needed to be able to survive and make a living form their land. “At the moment, their choices are very limited and that’s because of government policy,” he said.

Asked about his upcoming plans, the nature advocate said he didn’t know what’s coming next yet.

“But I will keep doing what I’ve been doing for quite a number of years now.”

Setting The Land Free is available in all good book shops.

Eoghan's name will go forward alongside other monthly Cork Person of the Month winners for possible selection as Cork Person of the Year on January 29 at the Metropole Hotel.