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Action 1. Afforestation

Ireland, like many western European countries, has experienced centuries of deforestation. The island now has one of the smallest areas of forest in Europe. In the 1940's only 1.5% of the land area of Ireland was forested in comparison with other European countries where 24% of the landmass was forested (Hickie 1990, Anonymous 1994). This fact led to a major afforestation drive by the Forest Service. Now approximately 9% of Ireland is under forestry (EPA 2000, Coford 1994). Many of these new forests have been planted with exotic species, native to North America.

The drive to meet the Government's annual planting target of 30,000ha per year resulted in extensive planting of peatlands. Today 6,400ha of formerly intact raised bogs and 211,000ha of formerly intact blanket bogs have been planted (Ryan and Cross 1984, Anonymous 1994, Farrell & Boyle 1990). Since 1981 forest planting has been supported by EU grants (Douglas 1998).

Since the establishment of Coillte, the semi-state forestry company in 1989 the rate of forestry activity has increased dramatically, driven by EU grants and premia payments. Coillte now owns 435,000ha of land and manages 65% of Irish forests.

The Forest Service is the authority responsible for the administration of forestry grant schemes in the Republic of Ireland. The Forest Service produced guidelines which specifically exclude grants for afforestation of peatlands that are designated as NHAs/SACs because of the recognition of their conservation importance under the Habitats Directive and their archaeological importance under the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994. In addition a referral system for grant application exists between the Forest Service and Dúchas.

Coillte has agreed not to afforest any more intact peatland NHAs/SACs in its ownership and is reluctant to acquire more peatland, mainly for economic reasons.

Both the Forest Service and Coillte are anxious to apply the concept of sustainable forest management to their practices. With this in mind Coillte has a stated goal to manage 15% of its estate for nature conservation and biodiversity (Coillte Annual Report 1999). Coillte achieved Forest Standard Certification in 2001.

Unless a forestry scheme exceeds a threshold of 70ha there is no planning control exerted under the EIA Directive. 55 peatlands of conservation importance with an area of 24,554ha have been damaged by afforestation since 1989 when the EIA directive was brought into Irish legislation. The extent of the damage indicates that there is still a major problem in this area, which needs to be addressed. Before 1996, the EIA threshold for forestry was in fact 200ha.

General Objective
To avoid the loss of further conservation worthy peatlands to forestry and ensure the wise use and conservation of existing forested peatland areas.

IPCC's campaign work on afforestation has concentrated on ensuring that the Forest Service adequately screens forestry grant applications from the state and private sector. By highlighting instances of planting on conservation worthy peatlands, IPCC has ensured that a policy of no planting on NHAs/SACs is in place. In addition, through sustained IPCC lobbying, the threshold for forestry EIA in the wider countryside was reduced from 200ha to 70ha in 1996 (Statutory Instrument 93 of 1999 European Communities EIA Amendment Regulations (1999).

On the ground we have established a working liaison with Coillte to minimise its planting impact on peatlands and suggest management options for the benefit of the community and wildlife.

Actions
3.1.1 The Forest Service should prepare an environmental policy statement on afforestation, re-affirming its commitment not to plant on peatlands, through the administration of its forestry grant schemes.

3.1.2 Incremental sub-threshold forestry developments (less than 70ha) within 500m of each other should require planning permission whether or not they are carried out by a single developer and regardless of the period between plantings.

3.1.3 EU and national grant structures for forestry should be modified to steer developments towards more suitable land types.

3.1.4 The Forest Service should consult with the Department of the Environment to publish guidelines for the content of Environmental Impact Statements so that ecologically informed planning decisions can be made. This is particularly important to avoid damage to sites that have not been surveyed for their NHA/SAC status.

3.1.5 The sale of publicly owned forest land should take into consideration the importance of both the lands for sale and the adjacent lands for their archaeological, ecological and conservation value.

3.1.6 Forest management activities need to be sustainable and address the impacts on surrounding peatland habitats.

3.1.7 A national audit of afforested peatlands should be undertaken with a view to establishing a restoration programme on sites with potential conservation value.
3.1.8 Substantial areas of forest land in Coillte and private ownership and designated as NHAs and SACs must be managed in line with national and international conservation objectives.

3.1.9 Peatland sites incorporating Recorded Monuments of archaeological interest should remain unplanted.

3.1.10 All peatland areas should be surveyed for archaeological interest in advance of any proposed afforestation schemes.

3.1.11 Peatlands of archaeological importance already planted should be carefully felled at the end of this rotation and restored to protect their archaeological importance where possible.

3.1.12 The Forest Service should develop screening guidelines to avoid grant aiding afforestation in acid sensitive river catchments.

3.1.13 Where acidification of catchments has occurred, remedial measures should be undertaken.

3.1.14 Forest Service and Dúchas should continue and improve their referral system on forest grant applications and allocate sufficient resources to ensure the effectiveness of the screening process.

3.1.15 The Forest Service and Dúchas should distribute up to date maps of heritage and conservation worthy areas to forestry companies.

Effects of Forestry on Peatlands

When forests are planted on bog, threatened bird species, which depend on large tracts of open ground for nesting or feeding, disappear. These species include the Red Grouse, Golden Plover, Dunlin and Greenland White-fronted Goose (Ratcliffe & Oswald 1987).

Lodgepole pine and Sitka spruce are planted after mounding. The peatland is fertilised, with a phosphorus rich fertiliser. Drainage is installed. The outcome is a fundamental change in the bog environment and major consequences for flora and fauna. Afforestation has a severe and irreparable impact on peatland flora and fauna.

Due to the effect of fertilisation, the natural peatland plants, adapted to growing in nutrient poor conditions, die out quickly and are replaced by more vigorous species such as Molinia caerulea. The immediate effect of afforestation is to eradicate the natural peatland vegetation. Subsequently the peatland vegetation is replaced with dense stands of conifers with few other plants.

Afforestation also leads to a thinning out of breeding bird populations on adjoining unplanted peatlands beyond the forest boundary. The forest gives increased cover for foxes and nesting habitats for carrion and hooded crows. This leads to over predation of the adjacent unplanted areas particularly of young birds. Studies undertaken in the blanket bogs of the Flow Country in Scotland showed that there was a 19% reduction in Golden Plover numbers from predation. The minimum conservation area needed to maintain the natural bird populations of blanket bogs is estimated at 270ha.

Cultivation of the peat increases water runoff and can result in flash flooding. This can be followed by erosion and cracking of the peat mass. This causes the build up of peat sediment in streams.

Lowering of the water table dries the peat allowing oxidation to occur which releases carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Mature forests scavenge ions from the atmosphere in the form of dry deposition onto the forest canopy. When these ions are washed through the forest canopy, they can cause an acidification pulse in stream water, especially in peatlands, where the soil is of low buffering capacity.

The major chemical effect of afforestation is nutrient enrichment of peat, soils and waters by fertilisation associated with tree planting. This causes local eutrophication, leading to algal blooms in lakes and reservoirs. Sedimentation and acidification of rivers affects fish spawning, particularly of salmonid species.

Several studies have shown that acidification due to conifer plantations, particularly in areas of base poor geology, such as the Wicklow Mountains and west Galway-Mayo, has serious long-term effects on aquatic life (Bracken 1993, Allott et al. 1997 and Kelly-Quinn et al. 1997).

Find out more: Effects of Forestry on bogs