Status and value of native broadleaved woodland.

Abstract

The title of this symposium "Broadleaves - have they a future in Ireland" prompts questions as to their past and present status. Travelling around Ireland the impression gained is of a country well stocked with broadleaved trees and woodland, but this is a false impression obtained from the dense network of hedges combined with small patches of young woodland and scrub on pockets of poor soil or steep slopes. With less than 6% of Ireland under woodland it is the least wooded part of Europe (excluding Iceland), and the area of broadleaved woodland is only 1 % of the land area. In order to understand the reasons for this, and to understand the significance of our broadleaved woodlands, it is necessary to examine briefly how the present situation evolved...