Retired researcher John Spence stands in the Correl Glen nature reserve in Fermanagh, pointing out oak, hazel, birch, ash and alder trees, along with rare filmy ferns and wild strawberry bushes. This small patch of temperate rainforest hosts over 100 species of lichen. 'These are the gnarled oakwood remnants of the ancient Irish rainforests,' says Spence, who spent his career researching aquatic ecosystems.
According to the Woodland Trust, trees that 'could be classified with any degree of certainty as ancient' make up only 0.04% of land in Northern Ireland. Across the border in the Republic of Ireland, less than 2% of woods are native, and an even lower percentage predate the Tudor and Elizabethan clearances of the 16th and 17th centuries. Ecologists across the island stress the need to find, preserve and dramatically expand these precious fragments.
But a new threat looms: the rapid expansion of vast monocultures of introduced pine. Eddie Mitchell, an independent representative at Leitrim county council, says the 'plantation'-based model of forestry, driven by intensive planting of non-native coniferous species like the North American sitka spruce, is 'completely the wrong way to go about the thing.' He argues that commercial forestry has serious social impacts, blocking sunlight from houses and leaving residents feeling 'cut off'.
The island of Ireland has the lowest proportional tree coverage in Europe, with the Republic at 11.6% and Northern Ireland at 8%, well below the EU average of 38%. The Irish government has invested over €1.3bn (£1bn) in new forestry schemes, aiming for 18% coverage by 2050. Stormont faces an even bigger challenge, needing to up afforestation rates eightfold by 2039 to meet net zero targets.
Pat Glennon, director of the sawmill group Glennon Brothers, says forestry has been 'unfairly blamed' for depopulation in Leitrim. He notes that new regulations prevent planting within 60 metres of homes and require 15% of land to be left for biodiversity. However, he believes farmers planting native hardwood alone have been 'sold a story', given the smaller market for hardwood. 'The conifer is the one that pays the bills,' he says.
