Irish Forestry

Championing trees and forestry

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A National Forest Tree Gene Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for Ireland

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Forest Genetic Resources (FGR) are the basis on which the health of future forests are dependent. It is genetic diversity that enables trees to adapt to conditions and optimise their performance to succeed. A lack of diversity increases the vulnerability of a population or species to changing conditions and pathogens, while a greater diversity is a potential buffer against biotic and abiotic change. This paper undertook a review of international practice in FGR conservation and proposes a strategy to implement in an Irish context. Dynamic in situ conservation has been adopted as the best practice for the conservation of FGR in most cases. The dynamic approach is often referred to as a “near-nature” approach and the focus is to maintain adaptive potential in natural or semi-natural populations. A network or group of sites is also considered best practice in FGR conservation. This has been implemented in the EUFORGEN pan-European
conservation network. Selection of the individual populations or sites to include in the network is dependent on the availability of data. The selection criteria are addressed in the strategy proposed. In order to conserve genetic variation, it is important to be able to assess the actual or potential level of this variation. Where data is lacking, proxies such as climatic conditions can be used. A table of actions for the implementation for the strategy is presented.

Investigations into Phytophthora dieback of alder along the river Lagan in Belfast, Northern Ireland

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Common alder (Alnus glutinosa) is an important tree species, especially in riparian and wet habitats, it is very common across Ireland and Northern Ireland, and provides a wide range of ecosystem services there. Alder suffers from Phytophthora induced decline in many parts of Europe, and this research set out to identify the presence and scale of the risk to alder health from Phytophthora and other closely related oomycetes in Northern Ireland. This was done through surveys along the river Lagan in Belfast, Northern Ireland and revealed that of the tree vegetation along an 8.5 km stretch of the river, 166 alder trees were counted. Of these,
28 were severely defoliated/diseased and nine were dead. Sampling and a combination of morphological and molecular testing of symptomatic plant material and river baits identified the presence of three Phytophthora species, including Phytophthora lacustris -the first time it has been recorded as disease-causing in Ireland. Inoculation studies using potted alder saplings demonstrated that P. lacustris was able to cause disease (under bark lesions), and Koch’s postulates for this pathogen-host combination were completed, which suggests a future risk to alder health from P. lacustris in Northern Ireland.

Ecosystem services provision from alternative management options was modified to Ireland’s western peatland forests under future development scenarios

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A forest decision support system to include impacts of climate change, dynamic assortment prices and Ecosystem Service (ES) indicators and used it to model forest management of a peatland forest landscape in the west of Ireland. Alternative Forest Management Models (aFMMs) were developed for unfertilised blanket bog sites. They focused on low-stocking lodgepole pine, Sitka spruce and birch mixtures, and bog restoration. These aFMMs were implemented in a linear programming-based decision support system that already contained current FMMs (cFMMs). ES provision results when using only cFMMs were compared to those when both cFMMs and aFMMs were used.
Using an objective to maximise Net Present Value (NPV), the aFMMs were established on sites with poor to marginal productivity. Their use led to improvements in NPV, biodiversity, water quality, landscape aesthetics and reduced windthrow risk, while harvest volume and carbon storage decreased. Compared to the increased demand for wood, the climate change factors (i.e. accumulated temperature, moisture deficit, detailed method of aspect scoring, and continentality) which affected productivity had relatively little impact on forest management and most ES provision levels. This was partly because the impact of increased temperature, moisture deficits and exposure on species productivity was low. Policy restrictions meant limited opportunity to diversify the forest landscape by planting different species, causing lodgepole pine to become dominant in all scenarios and resulting in similar ES provision trends for all scenarios. However, increased biomass demand and policies to mitigate climate change resulted in intensified management, lower uptake of aFMMs, and, generally, lower ES provision levels.

Using birch as shelter with Sitka spruce – description and outcome of the Kronoberg approach

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The feasibility of Sitka spruce and birch mixtures on nutritionally impoverished sites was investigated based on experimental data and single tree growth model simulations. The Kronoberg silvicultural approach was considered as a management option, which is traditionally applied to naturally regenerating birch and Norway spruce sites with two major economic objectives: bioenergy production from the initial thinning of birch, and production of good quality spruce
sawlog at clearfell. The silvicultural system was tested using field data from planted mixed species trials to initialise model simulations under three proposed scenarios a) a no thin pure Sitka spruce stand (SS-NT), b) a 50:50 birch/Sitka spruce mixture under a no thin silvicultural scenario (M-NT) and c) the Kronoberg management approach (KM) adapted for planted birch/spruce mixtures. Analysis of simulated harvest and growth data suggest that gradual removal of
birch from the mixed stands is required to maximise timber volume production of Sitka spruce. Economic analysis shows that the SS-NT and M-NT scenarios, where stands are clearfelled at 40 years or earlier, for bioenergy or timber sale, may not be commercially viable, based on net present value (NPV) using discount rates above 2%. The KM approach yielded positive NPV returns at discount rates of 3 to 6%. The potential use of this alternative silvicultural system for
nutritionally poor sites in Ireland requires further field testing to validate model simulations and economic assumptions used in the study.

The vernacular uses of Irish wood

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Ireland is famous for the fact that most of its native woodlands are long gone. By the second half of the seventeenth century, for a variety of reasons, most Irish
woodlands had disappeared, with the result that there is a lack of any tradition of good quality Irish vernacular furniture or woodwork surviving from earlier than the famine period. However, this does not imply that there is no vernacular tradition of using Irish timber. Smaller pieces of Irish wood were employed for a wide variety of uses, often in ingenious ways, and a detailed knowledge of the attributes of each kind of timber survived. There was also another source of timber that Irish people could access, namely bog timber, mostly bog oak and bog pine or fir.

My father, the timber merchant

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Dermot Byrne describes the world of his father, a timber merchant in Wicklow spanning four decades from the 1940’s.

The potential for agroforestry in Ireland

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Agroforestry, where trees are combined with crops and/or animals on the same unit of land to deliver significant economic and environmental benefits, is currently little practiced in Ireland. Evidence is presented for the ecosystem services which agroforestry, and more specifically silvopastoral, systems can deliver to help address current challenges in the agricultural and forestry sectors—air, soil and water quality; biodiversity; greenhouse gas emissions; climate change mitigation obligations; and tree cover targets, while helping to support family farm viability and market access. A summary is given of research findings from the research programme at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute’s field station at Loughgall, Co. Armagh. A series of proposals is presented on how agroforestry is applicable to, and could be implemented in, the agriculture, forestry and environmental sectors. Agroforestry aligns well with EU as well as national governments’ policies and objectives for more sustainable land use and climate resilience. Currently agroforestry is supported under a forestry measure
in Ireland and an agricultural (agri-environment) measure in Northern Ireland. While both are stimulating interest, they do have drawbacks. For a more flexible approach to accommodate the particular nature of agroforestry and the multifunctional outputs it can deliver, it is proposed that agroforestry should be supported as an agricultural and forestry measure on both parts of the island. Given the growing interest in agroforestry, a clear need has been identified for a
dissemination hub of tailored information, and an Irish Agroforestry Forum has been formed.

Climate mitigation options through afforestation

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The establishment of new forests has a highly significant role to play in addressing our climate challenges and ensuring that we can build a significant future carbon sink by mid-century. Net removals of carbon dioxide from afforestation is the largest land-based mitigation option available and the main contributor towards the 26.8 MtCO₂ EU Effort Sharing emission reduction target 2021 – 2030.
Teagasc, in conjunction with FERS Limited and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), have developed an online Forest Carbon calculation
tool (www.teagasc.ie/forestcarbontool). This tool provides a non-technical and user‑friendly way to estimate how much carbon can potentially be removed through various forest establishment scenarios and other climate mitigation pathways, such as through harvested wood products (HWP). To achieve accurate estimations, users of the Forest Carbon Tool need to familiarise themselves with the range of assumptions, methodologies and system boundaries described within the tool assumptions description, as well as the requirements and scope for future tool enhancements.

Irish tree champions

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The Irish Tree Society and the Tree Council of Ireland established the Tree Register of Ireland (TROI) in 1999. Its aim is to measure and record the “champion trees” of Ireland. Champion trees are defined as individual trees which are exceptional examples of their species because of their enormous size, great age, rarity or historical/cultural significance. To date over 14,000 champion trees have been recorded. The TROI database, which contains details of selected trees such as height, girth and location, is maintained at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. A Global Positioning System (GPS) is used to accurately record each tree’s location and to facilitate subsequent surveys. In Ireland tree measurements have been carried out since the beginning of the 20th century. The most important and one of the first was the monumental work of John Elwes and Augustine Henry, The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland which was published in seven volumes between 1906 and 1913. This impressive record was republished by the Society of Irish Foresters in 2012. This article provides an update of Ireland's tree champions.

The Ruin that Befell the Great Families of Ireland

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Extracts from Aodhagán Ó Rathaille’s poem “The Ruin that Befell the Great Families of Ireland” (c. 1720), were translated by Michael Hartnett from the original
An Milleadh D’imigh ar Mhór-shleachtaibh na hÉireann. Their significance are discussed in the context of Ó Rathaille’s life and the contemporary climate.

List of publications

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A list of recently published books on trees and forestry which may be of interest to readers is provided.

Sprout Lands – Tending the Endless Gifts of Trees

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Review

The Multifarious Mr Banks

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Review

The Oak Papers

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Review

The Story of Trees and how they changed the way we live

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Review

Tree Story – The History of the World Written in Rings

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Review

The Wood Age: How One Material Shaped the Whole of Human History

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Review

76th Annual Study Tour: The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Bosnia and Herzegovina is about 70% of the size of the Republic of Ireland. It has a population of 3.7 million which is much lower than before the Balkan War as a
result of large scale population displacement. It has 63% forest cover (3.2 million ha). However, almost 400,000 ha of its forests cannot be accessed because of suspected landmines. Approximately 68% of the forests are publicly owned and 32% are privately held. During the war years in the 1990s it lost over 2,500 ha of forest annually through illegal felling. The dominant species are beech (41%), fir (19%), spruce 15%, oak (6%), pines (6%) and other species (13%). While it has almost four times greater forest cover than Ireland, its annual timber harvest is about the same as Ireland’s. The main reasons for this low harvest are difficult access, extremely steep terrain, poor road infrastructure and a low level of investment in harvesting technology.

Seán Campbell 1925 - 2020

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Pat (PJ) O’Malley 1933 - 2020

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Diarmuid (Derry) O’Hegarty 1927 – 2020

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George T. Hipwell 1941 – 2020

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William George (Bill) Dallas 1929 – 2020

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Brendan O’Neill 1948 – 2020

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Brian Hussey 1935 – 2021

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James (Jim) Crowley 1933 – 2021

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Thomas F. (Frank) Harding 1929 – 2021

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Michael (Mick) O’Donovan 1925 – 2021

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