2. Forestry in Ireland Introduction Mixed woodlands were once a natural feature of much of the Irish countryside. Woodland Management Ireland has had a particularly unimpressive record of woodland management. Management is essential for the successful propagation of woodlands, particularly for commercial plantations. Ireland has a poor record of woodland management stretching back long before the clearances of the sixteenth century (see Neeson 1991 for a comprehensive history). Prior to the early 1900s, there were no formal management systems in place (with a few exceptions on the larger estates) and trees grew as wild and natural or semi-natural woodlands. The lack of an historical silviculture in Ireland, coupled with the small size of Irish farms, has had significant consequences for Irish forestry which are manifested in attitudes and in practice. The notion of actually planting land (regardless of quality) has always been an anathema to Irish farmers and trees have been generally regarded as useful for little more than shelter or as a source of fuel. A forest plantation, coniferous or deciduous, requires a varying degree of management if it is to be maintained successfully. Forest management involves site and seed choice, ground preparation and drainage, vegetation control, thinning, pruning and, in the case of commercial plantations, extraction. At its latest stage, it incorporates a range of techniques from skilled hand-felling to large-scale clear-felling. Modern forest management is not confined to the welfare of the trees themselves but is also concerned with the relationship between the forest and issues such as the environment, public access and appreciation, local water sources, ecology and heritage features. Sophisticated management programmes are now in place in most of the National Parks and Nature Reserves as well as in some of the commercial forest plantations. | |
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