The Beauty of Rosebay Willowherb

One of the subjects that frequently comes up on this blog site is ‘clearfell forestry’. I wouldn’t be such an ‘anti’ if it was kind of 50/50 permanent forest/clearfell plantations, or at least a bit more balanced. It’s just that in the Cavan/Leitrim area where I live, there isn’t anything else. (Well, apart from two small private forests in conversion, – one managed by Paddy Purser and one managed by me.) If you live in Blackrock or similar and don’t know what I mean by clearfell site, here’s a photo below:

Clearfell site in Drumshanbo one year after the forest was cut down.

I suppose in the case of Holland, where I visited recently with Pro Silva Ireland, and in many other European countries, the size of clearfell allowed in forestry is less than a hectare, so it’s not really an issue. In Slovenia it is forbidden altogether. But here in Ireland complete forests can be cut down within a week and this practice seems to be most unpopular especially with people who live near them.

However a local friend told me recently that the clearfell site that features so frequently on this blog (above and below) is an absolute picture to look at right now with a profusion of rosebay willowherb covering the ground. And it does look beautiful, don’t you think?

Rosebay willowherb covering the clearfell site with a gorgeous purple mist.

My friend pointed out that after a few years a clearfell site will green up and all the ground flora will return.  The raw look will cover over and it will once again blend in with the surrounding landscapes. He tells me that clearfell sites are usually replanted with the same species and over twenty years or so they will once again take on a foresty look.

I tell him Hey! Come on! I’ve lived in the south Leitrim area for twenty five years. I am well familiar with what happens to forest land once the forest has been cut down.  

So I thought it might be useful (for me anyway!) to clarify that the appearance of the site is not the issue. The issue as I see it is this:  Forests take a long time to evolve.  It’s crazy to cut them down every 40 years and make them start up all over again. A well structured, well managed forest offers all the benefits: timber production; wildlife habitats and nature conservation; soil protection; amenity and tourism benefits and beauty in the landscape. People can walk through them and the experience of being with big trees is uplifting to the human soul. Short term single species even aged forests only offer one species of timber and the soil, instead of being protected is put in jeopardy over time. People can’t walk through them for at least 20 years, and in the case of unthinned forests, ever. There is virtually no ground flora once the canopy closes over. It will never have big trees. You don’t need me to spell it all out. Just take a look for yourself.  Here’s a normal even aged, single species fir plantation in Holland that wasn’t clearfelled.  It was started in the usual way, just like here, only it was let grow on and managed to encourage size variation and species diversity, etc. Timber is harvested every 5 years, ad infinitum. It’s beautiful to be in.

This mixed species forest in Holland with young Douglas Fir regenerating in clumps as the forest evolves.

Highly evolved forests are usually made up of many species and this can mean a variety of timbers are available from them. Ireland still imports all its timber needs that is not spruce, from a variety of countries, including West Africa.  Those are the issues. 

If we want to mature our forests so that they become truly sustainable in every sense of the word, we are going to have to learn to let them grow on. We have a vast area of suitable conifer plantations providing the pioneering stage that is so ideal to start from. We just need to learn to manage them in order to create permanent forests comprising many species as they come in. If we let our forests grow on and keep harvesting timber and managing the forests as is done in at least 27 other European countries (that’s the current number of Pro Silva member countries), the south Leitrim area, for example, would be a wonderland of forest walks.  

The ‘field’ of rosebay willowherb is really beautiful to look at, I think.  But it took 40 years of waiting for the once off harvest of timber that came off the site; you can’t walk on the land at all; and it’s simply not a forest. This, on the other hand, is:

The Pro Silva Ireland group wander back to the bus through tall beech and fir forest in Holland

 And so is this:

Beech and spruce forest in Austria

OK.  Now that that’s off my chest I can get on with reporting on some truly gorgeous forestry that we saw in Holland on the recent Pro Silva trip.  Stay posted

Related posts:

1. Visitors View of the Irish Landscape
2. Visit to Holland – “Het Loo” Royal Estate and Badger Mountain
3. 60% Forest Cover = 60% Gross National Product
4. Holland Trip – The Forests of Apeldoorn
5. Forests Evolve – You Can’t Plant Them

Tags: Clearfell sites