The Pro Silva Ireland committee (without their Chairman!!), along with the forest owners, did a fantastic job organizing every detail of both the evening lecture and the forest open day.  You can read about it on the Pro Silva Website. The lecture by Prof. Jurij Diaci from Slovenia on the Friday night was well attended and the following day saw a big gathering of people at Cloragh Farm Forest in Wicklow.

The day also saw the launch of Pro Silva Ireland’s new Forest Policy Document, which I’d have loved to have been there for. (It’s on the website, so do take a read.  It’s really good.)

PRO Cathy Fitzgerald kindly visited me in hospital the next day to show me the photos, pass on the greetings and tell me about the two events. It was just great to hear all about it. Everyone I’ve spoken to since remarked that not just was there such a good attendance (70 to 80 people), but that at each forest stop everyone gathered in quietly to listen carefully to the invaluable discussions and to learn as much as possible from our two guest ‘experts’ about this dynamic new (new to Ireland that is!) approach to forest menagement.

Prof. Dr. Jurgen Huss from Germany and Prof. Dr. Jurij Diaci from Slovenia. - PSI guest 'experts' on the day.

Everyone I spoke to also told me of the great weather conditions (even though there was such a crowd, a megaphone wasn’t needed because there was not a breath of wind so everyone could hear) AND about the wonderful hospitality shown by our hosts, Geoffrey and Lucy Tottenham. I missed that too!!

There are great benefits from being part of a European federation of forests, as Pro Silva is. Not least, you get to meet the leading experts in close-to-nature/CCF forestry from all over Europe, and invite them over to help us to learn how to do it here.  Plus, we get invited over to see their forests. (Check out the PSI website for details of the trip to Hungary next month.  Still a few places available.)

There has been quite a lot of talk since about the Pro Silva day in Wicklow, and about Prof. Diaci’s lecture the evening before, and about the new Forest Policy Document that was launched on the day. It’s let me see that the interest in this exciting subject is growing, and when it comes to Irish forestry, many people really do seem to be adopting a change of view.

The Pro Silva group in discussion in the forest at Baronscourt, County Tyrone

The long awaited visit of Pro Silva Ireland (PSI) to Baronscourt Estate near Newtownstewart, County Tyrone was well worth the wait. In keeping with PSI tradition, two foreign experts were invited over to Ireland to join us on the day.  Brice De Turckheim, a forest owner and forester with many years of experience in close-to-nature management and one of the founding members of Pro Silva Europe , came from Alsace on France’s eastern border adjacent to Germany and Switzerland. Phil Morgan is an independent forest manager from Wales and works with Selectfor. He is an active member of Pro Silva Europe through the CCFG in the UK and he is forestry consultant at Baronscourt. Phil is a fluent French speaker and translated for Brice on the day. Between them Brice and Phil fielded our many questions with such clarity and the ease that comes with years of time spent in forests.

Sitka spruce regeneration moving in after severe wind throw 8 years ago.

Baronscourt has been the home of the Duke of Abercorn’s family since 1612. The Estate woodlands extend to approximately 1,450 hectares of which approximately 300 hectares are leased to the NI Forest Service and the remainder are managed in-hand by the Estate’s Head Forester, Jim Simpson. In 2001, following a trip with Pro Silva Ireland to Lower Saxony, it was decided to discontinue clear-felling the in-hand woodlands and instead transform to continuous-cover/close-to-nature. A quarter of these woodlands are now thinned each year and the stops included visits to woodlands that have been thinned twice with the intention of retaining tree cover in perpetuity. The presence of Japanese sika deer and Rhododendron ponticum provide significant management issues and lengthy discussions ensued on the day.

Brice De Turckheim arrived in the dark the night before.  He needed only a few minutes to observe his surroundings at the first stop before answering questions. His first observation was that ‘this is a wind-managed forest’. One of the main deciding factors of the Estate to change their management to ccf/close-to-nature was the incidence of windthrow in their even-aged conifer plantations.

Notice the size variation of the regeneration. You can imagine how much more stable this forest is becoming as its structure is allowed to develop.

While Baronscourt is predominantly made up of ‘sensible sitka’ at present, the owners are not attached to trying to keep the estate as pure sitka.  As broadleaves seed into the forest, they are favoured because they are so in the minority. But that will change over time. Ultimately it is quality of timber and forest health that will guide the forest management here.

This area, originally planted with Scots pine, was hit by Hurricane Debbie in 1964. Southern beech, birch, oak have seeded in.

The presence of deer is a big issue at Baronscourt, especially of course for the broadleaved species.  Some areas have been fenced to exclude the deer and here we see again the reality of what the presence of high deer numbers in a forest effects:

Lush regeneration of many species happily growing inside the deer exclusion fence while outside the fence is bare.

As at many of the forest trips organized by Pro Silva in Ireland, the subject of log sizes came up.  In ccf/close-to-nature management the aim is to only fell large trees, as they are worth more and of course the overall increment of the forest is higher. The Irish sawmills have adapted to suit what is offered for sale, so in Ireland what is offered is small dimension (by European standards) logs.  Estate Manager Robert Scott told us that they are lucky to have a mill nearby that operates a ban saw and can take large logs.

Brice gave a wonderful response to this subject.  He said that man has no control over nature but has control over technology.  (You simply can’t argue with that statement.) Therefore adapt the technology to both serve the forest and to harvest timber wisely.  Growers must create big trees and then the mills will sort out the technology needed to mill them. Foresters need to have vision for the future to grow big trees, he said.  If you harvest small trees you must harvest in larger groups and the larger the group the less diversity comes to the forest. So there is less disturbance to the forest if you just select the large trees and then the forest becomes more stable and less at risk of wind. There were many wonderful such offerings from Brice and Phil during the day as they shared their knowledge and experience with us.

From left: Estate Manager (and former Chairman of PSI) Robert Scott, Phil Morgan, Brice De Turckheim and Baronscourt Forest Manager Jim Simpson

I love that Pro Silva brings to Ireland foresters from countries where there is an unbroken forestry culture for hundreds of years. We are just beginning to grow a forest culture here and need to somehow develop this long term view.  We cannot do that on our own. We need the help of others who have the culture, the tradition and the knowledge.

We stopped at another forest area where the wind had felled a huge gap in 1998, leaving only a few large trees still standing.   I remembered fondly when PSI had it’s first forest trip to Baronscourt in 2001 when our guests had been Prof. Hans Jurgen Otto from Lower Saxony and Talis Kalnars, now deceased, from Wales.  At that time this site was bare of trees and the question from Robert Scott and Jim Simpson was ‘Do we plant?’  A resounding ‘No!’ had been the reply from our two foreign experts. ‘Just wait and see what comes in.’  I remember us all looking doubtfully at this huge area of bare, grassy ground.

The same area, 8 years later, is now thick with wind-firm self sown trees.

But here it is eight years later, teeming with bright young self-sown trees.

Brice and Phil spoke about the importance of keeping the remaining tall trees. They are the strong ones that withstood the storm winds.  Their presence will help with the stability of the entire forest into the future. You must manage for diversity and continue to be directed by the forest itself, he said.

On our way back to our cars, we stopped on a high place to recap on the day.  Looking out over the increasingly diverse and lush forest landscapes that is Baronscourt Estate we could see in the distance forests managed by the Forest Service. They had a sad, almost agricultural appearance with their tall crop of sitka offering up such enormous potential, and the tell tale bare ground of the clearfelling practice that will soon sweep them all away.

Meanwhile in the background, the 'same old same old' of even aged conifers carve up the landscapes with their hard lines as they wait to be felled completely.

We received a warm welcome and wonderful hospitality from the Duke and Duchess of Abercorn. I couldn’t really find the words to express to them the significance of the step they and their son Lord Hamilton, have made in this leap of faith eight years ago to try something that had not been tried here. They didn’t do it in a nervous, small way.  They saw the sense of it through the trips with Pro Silva and they took up the recommendations and applied them to the whole forest estate. It is wonderful to see, and we’re told we’re welcome back, so look out for future PSI visits there over the years.

I can’t finish this post without mention of the Pushkin Trust project that the Duchess has been working on since its launch in 1987. Trust endeavours to unite children, their parents and educators, north and south, in the common bond of creativity. Take a look on the link, – it is so inspiring.

The Pushkim House built entirely from timbers grown on the Estate

Beautiful Curragh Chase Forest Park near Foynes, Co. Limerick.

While most of the Pro Silva Ireland (PSI) visits are to private forests, the one last Saturday 25th April was to a Coillte owned forest, Curragh Chase Forest Park in Foynes, County Limerick and it was a real quality day.

The PSI group at the first stop for the day. Notice new extraction path where the thinned timber was taken out of the forest recently.

As close-to-nature forest management is new to Ireland, there is no one to teach us here.  PSI policy is to invite two experienced foresters from abroad to all of our home events, – we hold two each year. This is a very enjoyable aspect of our work and is also absolutely essential if we are to move beyond the usual 40 year rotation clearfell/replant forestry approach towards permanent, self perpetuating forests like those PSI visit in other countries. The discussions that arise in the forest is where the learning lies.

Our guests at Saturday’s event were Phil Morgan from CCFG UK and Max Bruciamacchie from Pro Silva France. Max and Phil have been working in Curragh Chase forest over the last few years on the AFI project. (More about that on a future post.)

Phil Morgan (far left) and Max Bruciamacchie having discussions while Marie-Christine Scott listens and Matthew Stuart takes notes.

I’m not going to write a review of the day, as this is just a blog post.  There will be a comprehensive review available soon on the PSI website.  But I just have to tell you the aspects I thought were great and about my favorite lesson for the day, which has been such a long time coming.

It was great that Sasha Bosbeer brought seven students from GMIT and it was great to see their interest. Here the group gathers in for a discussion on the effect of recent thinning in this section of the forest.

It was great to see people standing up to their knees in naturally occurring sycamore and ash saplings and great to hear discussions of how best to manage it.

It was great to see people standing out in the rain at the end of the day shaping the very future of Irish forestry by their explorations and it was great to see the openness and enthusiasm of our Coillte hosts. From left Sasha Bosbeer (GMIT) Phil Morgan (CCFG & SelectFor), Padraig O'Tuama (Coillte) and Brandan Lally (Coillte)

But for me, the best stop was the last one.  This was a clearfell site that was subsequently planted with Norway spruce.  For whatever reason, nothing was done. Well, nothing was done by the foresters, that is.  But while the foresters backs were turned nature snuck in and millions of ash saplings moved in and took over.  Gerry Murphy (Coillte Regional Manager) estimated 10,000 per hectare.

Norway spruce extracted from the forest, allowing the ash to grow on.

For over twenty years I’ve been turning up to various forestry events in Ireland listening to people only discussing how to grow sitka spruce.  I’ve attended many lectures and seminars where Forest Service staff and private foresters have explained that hardwoods take 80 – 100 years to show any economic return.  The emphasis was usually on oak and beech.  Ash was dismissed as being a weed species and when it came up in conversation it was usually on how to eradicate it from conifer plantations.  

Cutting from the Farmer's Journal in July 2002. I remember being at that event and going home thinking northing would ever change and ash, this wonder tree, would always be plantation grown - which rarely works, - or dismissed as a weed.

But I was wrong. Seven years later here we were standing in a young forest where ‘volunteer’ ash was being given a chance to show itself.  It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm of the foresters and the interest from participants. I sang in the car all the long drive home  (Don’t worry, I was on my own!)

Just look at the density of the ash that came in to push out the spruce.

Coillte Forest Manager Brendan Lally explained that because of  a very healthy firewood market at present, it was possible to thin the ash at no cost. This was always a problem in the past, but just at this moment the demand for firewood is very strong.

After thinning, the ash is now starting to straighten and find its direction.

Anyone who has been following this blog site over the months will know that ash is my favourite tree in terms of Irish forestry.  It is very willing to come in and perform, certainly in forests that I see and manage in my area.  It grows more vigorously than it does in other European countries and its timber is more durable.  It attracts a variety of markets from a very early stage. If ash were given the chance I think it could be the tree that would enable us to afford to ‘bring back the mighty oak’ in that there is already a strong demand for ash timber (we import most from the US) and home grown ash cannot supply demand. 

Irish homegrown ash used in shelving, doors, skirting board and architrave.

In many Irish conditions, ash comes in after pioneer species like alder or sitka spruce have colonized the ground, and following on its heels comes oak. It is not a tree that does well planted first and requires expensive pruning when grown as a single species plantation.  But it grows straight and true when in a forest where the light is managed to its liking. Also, the problems that arise when ash comes in on a clearfell site, ie in such vast numbers that early thinning is a costly problem, – under a canopy of tall trees it comes in more sparsely and grows more evenly.

Sparsely nature-sown ash seedlings coming into the dappled light under the forest canopy.

I love being part of Pro Silva Ireland, and therefore Pro Silva Europe. It’s by meeting like minded foresters and visiting the forests they manage that it has been possible for me to find my element and to have the confidence to know that change is possible.

This year’s away trip with PSI is to Holland in June.  There are still a few places left, so check it out on the website if you want to join us.

I’m out in Australia for the month of March.   Travelling by train up to Northern Queensland I pass by miles of natural forest, or ‘bushland’.  I find myself thinking about my ancestors. One of my great grand fathers was a farmer and a sawmiller.  Another cleared the land by ‘ring-barking’ (figure it out for yourself) acres of land for farming. At the time that was how it was done. My great grandfather’s farm was a ‘model’ farm where settlers from all around came to learn how it was done. There were very many sawmillers throughout the country at the time of the early European settlers.

As usual trees are on my mind and train travel oils the cogs of my mind.  I let my imagination drift out into the landscape I’m passing through.  Imagine if our ancestors had asked themselves different questions when they moved into the forests of the world.  For example the questions that the early European ‘explorers’ of Australia obviously asked themselves were “How can we best get our hands on this magnificent timber and exploit these fantastic old forests for our own benefit?”  It is not speculation that these were the questions they asked themselves, – it is recorded in the very landscapes that I’m now moving through. You only have to open your eyes to see that this was the case.  The forest cover is now down two thirds and the vast majority of the forest trees are small.  Do the sums. I know, it’s not just Australia. For whatever reasons, so many developed countries, including Ireland, are equally deforested.

We have inherited these denuded landscapes.  We live amongst them and think it’s normal. We have also inherited the very questions that were asked by our ancestors and some of us approach forests in the same manner as people did 200 years and more ago. The slash and burn/clearfell approach.  We’re still asking questions of ‘what’s in it for us’, only now we can leave out the ‘magnificent’ and ‘fantastic old’ when it comes to the forests. What we grow now are just plantations.  Nothing magnificent or fantastic or old about them. To my mind that is.  It’s hard when you come up against the same old same old when you’ve seen another way and found other questions that lead to far better results. Mostly it’s just greens on one side and commercial forestry on the other. Dug in. Entrenched.

Typical Queensland 'bush' or forest, well picked over long ago for the best trees.

Perhaps the swing of the pendulum is the way of evolution.  In that I mean that at a time when the forests of the world have been clear felled to such an extent that the very climatic conditions  we need in order to live here are being disrupted, solutions are beginning to surface. Or at least more highly evolved questions are emerging.

What if our ancestors had asked questions like:

How can we safeguard these fantastic old forests while at the same time speed up the rate at which they produce this magnificent timber?

What is the sustainable harvest and what percent of what species can we harvest without negative effect on the ecosystems.  How often can we come back?

What number of big old trees per acre do we need to leave behind to maintain biodiversity of fauna and flora and to safeguard the forest?

What areas of these forests should we set aside as nature reserves, – learning places we can refer to if we go wrong?

How can we extract the felled timber without causing damage to young trees and forest soils?

What ways can we use this timber for maximum return and with minimum waste?

How can we find out how these fantastic old forests make such magnificent timber?   How can we replicate what they do?

So I’m sitting on this train bound for northern Queensland, thinking of these things and having immense waves of gratitude for those older forestry friends who started up Pro Silva. Only for them I would never have known to ask such questions as these in my own forestry work and to find some of the answers.  For example I used to think the only way to get broadleaved trees back was to plant them. I didn’t know that if questions like the above were applied to spruce plantations, for example, the result could, over time, be something nearly as wonderful as the old growth forests we have lost. I’ve been so immensely lucky to meet such foresters and to visit many forests with Pro Silva Ireland in some of the 27 countries that are now affiliated.  To see forests where these questions have been formulated and answered and are now being applied is truly inspiring.  Profitable, viable forests.  Sustainable in the true sense of the word.  And well,- magnificent, fantastic and old.

Close to Nature forest in Freudenstadt, Germany, with all age classes of trees present and many species.

Our current approach to forestry results in images like this one at Drumshanbo

I am certain that if forest owners here knew there was another approach to forestry than the one currently practiced, they would embrace this new approach and would eagerly begin to implement the management principals into their own forests.  As current Chairman of Pro Silva Ireland, I can see that there is a gradual increase in people coming to our field trips and that once they get a grip about what is being shown, their interest is sustained and their enthusiasm for the subject grows.  It is very exciting to think of the possibilities that are here for Irish forestry if only we would begin to see these sitka spruce plantations that we have as the first stage in forest evolution rather than as a crop to be felled and re-sown.

Tonight I was reading through the mouth watering itinerary for the 2009 Pro Silva Europe Conference that will be held in Slovenia this September. The introduction is really excellent and worth copying here:

Background: Sustainable management of forest ecosystems for the future is becoming one of the most important, yet difficult tasks for societies due to growing environmental problems on one hand, and increasing needs for energy, raw materials, recreational functions, biodiversity conservation and environmental services on the other. Close-to-nature forestry is one of the most important tools for bridging contrasting demands on forests. In this field Europe has a long tradition and many well established practices. These practical examples demonstrate that conserving and restoring forest biodiversity can be combined with management for social and protection functions, moreover all this can be achieved with reliable economic returns and with lowest possible ecological footprint. Pro Silva Europe is a federation connecting foresters, forest owners and forests representing this type of management on a European scale (www.prosilvaeurope.org). 

In recent years close-to-nature forestry is becoming more and more recognised by public and NGO’s. However, the percentage of managed forests in this way in Europe is growing relatively slowly. Close-to-nature forestry is often not appropriately acknowledged by governments or included in the legislature. Moreover, in spite of documented success, the close-to-nature forestry has a limited support from established forestry science. This discrepancy between many excellent practices and relatively low influence on the global forestry issues could be attributed to many reasons. Close-to-nature forestry is a complex management paradigm – not easy to communicate, it is labour and brain intensive, is often incorrectly considered as an obstacle for mechanisation, furthermore, economic returns are evident on the long turn. 

There are many misconceptions about what close-to-nature forestry is.  I hope over the coming months to dispel a few of the myths about it.  One of the things it is about is natural regeneration, although this happens as an effect rather than a cause. Meanwhile, just feel secure in the knowledge that while you’re reading this post there are millions of ash seedlings along the edges of plantations throughout the country just biding their time until enough forest owners notice that herein lies a valuable future commercial timber species that, given enough light, will come into the shelter of sitka spruce plantations and will pay its way.

Ash seedling patiently waiting for us to get some sense.

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Venue: Brackloon Property, Cootehall, Co. Roscommon

Hosted by: Mickey Gabbett                 Forest Manager:  Paddy Purser

Dr. Josef Spoerk (Pro Silva Austria) – forester in charge of investment forest properties owned by the Knights of Malta in Austria which have been managed using close to nature techniques since the 1960’s. Professor Spoerk is an excellent teacher and practical forester who inspired many members of Pro Silva Ireland on their study tour in 2006 to the woods he manages in Austria. There is nothing quite like ‘hands on’ learning and the marking exercises planned for the day will provide just that. This will be Dr. Spoerk’s first visit to Ireland. A unique opportunity for you to really delve into what close-to-nature forest management might offer you.

Rik Pakenham (UK Continuous Cover Forestry Group) – Rik is a forester based in the Chilterns in England. He is a practitioner of Continuous Cover Forestry and manages many private forests on this basis. Mr Pakenham assisted Pro Silva Ireland during the 2005 Sligo Forest Trip and we are very lucky to have the benefit of his experience again.

Brackloon property was planted in 1991. The area is made up of pure Sitka spruce which received first thinning in 2005 and a broadleaf mixture, predominantly of oak and ash which is currently being thinned.   The day will involve practical sessions in the marking of transformation thinnings in both broadleaves and conifers with expert input from Prof. Spoerk and Rik Packenham. There will be a thinning operation in progress in the broadleaves and this will also be the subject of discussion. This promises to be a highly relevant and practical day, not to be missed.

How it Went:

Saturday turned out to be a really wet day so it was really encouraging to see around 40 people turn up for the workshop.  Some people left early, but most stayed for the whole workshop, sheltering under umbrellas and straining hard to hear every word that the workshop leaders were saying.

A wet day at Cootehall, Co. Roscommon

Paddy Purser, from Pro Silva Ireland, is the forest manager on the site where the workshop was held and he carefully talked us through the management plans for the forest, explaining the reasons for choosing his course of action and what the desired outcome will be. The site was ideal in that it included both conifer and broadleaf plantations.  Some areas had recently been thinned, some were marked for thinning and some were untouched.

Perhaps the most memorable part of the day (apart from the rain!) was the marking exercise at the last part of the workshop.  Everyone divided into three groups and were given blue tape for marking the future trees to keep, and yellow tape to mark the trees to be felled.  This provided the chance for much discussion and helped to focus people’s minds on what had been taught in the morning.