Madam, - This is National Tree Week and the environmental lobby group Friends of the Irish Environment is calling for a change in Irish forestry policy to reflect our commitment to biodiversity and the need to take account of the EU habitats directive for conserving native flora and fauna.
Around the country various groups and organisations are planting native species of trees.These are especially important for biodiversity because they have developed over hundreds of years in a symbiotic relationship with other plants, insects, birds and animals. Native woodlands are habitat to thousands of other species, whereas coniferous plantations only host a handful.
Meanwhile, however, the national afforestation programme does not even mention native species and the State forestry company, Coillte, continues to plant and replant non-native Sitka spruce on the pretext that, on most poor or marginal land, it is "commercially viable" and native trees are not. This is a fallacy - Coillte thinks only in terms of monoculture plantations.
This kind of policy is reflected in the new Forest Environment Protection Scheme (FEPS) which, although it appears to encourage biodiversity, still gives the option of 80 per cent Sitka spruce with 5 per cent non-native larch, leaving just 15 per cent for biodiversity - which usually means a few birch and alder around the edges.
This is a poor contribution indeed, suggesting that FEPS is just an election stunt aimed at votes from farmers.
Part of the reason for current policy is that the Government is pressurised by timber product manufacturers, who only want fast-growing softwoods for wood-pulp, chipboard, etc. No account is taken of the benefits of "continuous-cover" native woodland which is a haven for wildlife, a stimulating amenity for locals and visitors, a scenic part of the landscape, an important educational resource and a source of valuable hardwood timber for a range of uses providing work for traditional craftspeople.
Once a native woodland is established, it provides on-going economic benefit far in excess of that from coniferous plantations which need fertilisers and pesticides and, excluding government grants, yield an income only every 25 to 30 years when they are clear-felled, causing environmental damage due to release of phosphates from the soil.
If Irish taxpayers are to avoid more heavy fines from Europe, then national forestry policy must change to include a high percentage of native trees. Further information on all the above can be found on the website www.celtnet.org. - Yours, etc,
BOB WILSON, CELT (Centre for Environmental Living and Training), c/o East Clare Community Co-op, Scariff, Co Clare.