OPINION (AN COLÚN): People are 'crying out' for more broadleaves

PEOPLE are crying out for more broadleaves, but the system is not meeting their demands.
Ash farmers are in limbo because of the ash dieback disease and are dismayed that the government has ruled out compensation for those affected.
Members of the public often complain when Coillte start harvesting timber during the birdnesting season; and they also criticise Coillte for leaving vast tracts of land looking like a war zone after the harvesting of timber.
These were just some of the points which were made during a very interesting talk on forestry (its past, present and future) in Portumna Castle on Monday afternoon. The speaker Kevin Donnellan, who has 43 years experience in forestry management with the Forest Service and Coillte, told us that members of the public are often saying to him they want far less non-native conifer trees in Ireland and much more broadleave trees. At the moment Ireland's forests are 79% conifer and 21% broadleaves. If we plant more broadleaves to the level we desire it will mean planting good agricultural land which, unfortunately, is the land that everybody wants. This pressure on land choice, argued Kevin, will mean we will get nowhere near the amount of planting we desire. "We won't get the level of broadleaf planting that many of us desire unless the government strongly supports it,” he commented. Governments are frequently brilliant at giving lip service to things but not so good when it comes to taking concrete action. It's estimated that our forestry cover can be expanded to 18% of our landmass without negatively impacting on agricultural production. At present forestry covers 11% of Ireland.
One of the things which was mentioned during the talk was the treasure that is Portumna Forest Park. The Park is 1500 acres, 1150 of which is forestry. It's a wonderful recreational facility enjoyed by thousands every year. Not only are places like this good for our mental health, they have also been shown to boost our immune system. Scientists in Japan are currently researching if regular walking in woodlands can boost our immune system to certain types of cancer. Kevin pointed out that people with mental health problems often tell him that regular walking in woodland greatly helps them. He advises walkers to not just power through their walk but to stop frequently and absorb their surroundings, including the colours and the birdsong. Smartphones are great tools, he said, but they have too strong a hold over many of us. Some of the beautiful trees to be found in Portumna Forest Park include yew trees along the shoreline of Lough Derg and Scots Pines (which used to be regarded as non-native, but we now know they are native). Several beautiful ash trees line the approach avenue to Portumna Castle. These trees thankfully haven't been affected by the ash dieback disease. Older ash seems to be more resistant to this fungal disease than younger ash. Research scientists are trying to find a new strain of ash which will be resistant to the disease.
Forestry is massively beneficial for our economy, bringing in €2.3 billion per year, sustaining 16,000 jobs and providing income for 20,000 forest owners. Its products include saw logs (which are used in building construction, such as roofs); pallet logs (which are strongly in demand in the UK since the Ukraine War broke out); pulpwood and stakes (used for farm fencing); hard woods; and fire wood (because it is renewable it is not regarded as a fossil fuel). We are producing a very high amount of timber every year and 30% of it is being exported to the UK.
In the past Ireland's approach to forestry was very hard-nosed and very economically driven, with little regard for the environment or aesthetics. This attitude can be clearly seen in the Slieve Bloom Mountains where vast tracts of land are planted with thickly packed sitka spruce trees (a non-native tree). A lot of these trees were planted far too close to the many streams of the Slieve Blooms and have fallen into the streams. It's shocking to see such a blatant insensitivity to these beautiful watercourses.
The good news is the hard-nosed, uber practical attitude has softened a little bit. For example I was walking in Glenamoon just below Ard Erin a couple of weeks ago and saw that Coillte had clearfelled a large area of the valley but have planted hundreds of broadleaves on either side of the stream for about a kilometre or more. I saw something similar near Keeper Hill recently. In the past the replanting would undoubtedly have been sitka spruce saplings.
The history of forestry in Ireland is a depressing tale. About 7,000 years ago 80% of the landmass was covered in trees. By 1903 that had reduced to just 1%, after centuries of cutting trees to create agricultural land, firewood and construction material.
After our independence the government granted money for tree planting, a scheme which was administered by the RDS. “Today, we enjoy the legacy of this scheme,” said Kevin. The first forestry training school was established at Avondale, Wicklow in 1904. During the 20th Century our forestry approach followed the example set in the UK where there was a focus on planting non native conifers including sitka spruce, norway spruce, lodgepole pine and douglas fir. Conifers were chosen because they grow more quickly than broadleaves. From 1922 to the mid 1980s state forestry was the dominant model. Now private forestry has slightly overtaken it. If we continue at our current rate of tree planting then it will take us another hundred years before we reach the EU average of 44% tree cover. Kevin also told us that trees in Ireland grow four times faster than in Europe.