Material released to Friends of the Irish Environment under the Freedom of Information Act from the Taoiseach's Department shows that the project as proposed by Coillte had no element of individual certificates for every household. The project was planned for the nation as a whole.

The Millennium Committee and Minister Breenan, however, insisted on the issuing of certificates as a condition of an additional £1 million in funding which Ray McSharry requested in September of 1999.

FSC - the Irish ‘greenwash'. Forestry contractors join environmentalist to protest over clearfell damage. Maps tracking the vanishing Hen harrier and the fresh water pearl mussel. The INFF Forestry Conference. Forestry and climate change. Coillte: its legal status; how it is exporting permethrine with the adhesive Flexcoat to the UK where it is unauthorised; its non return of €8 million in unauthorised grants required by the EU Court since 2002. An obituary for Crann.

Click on this link for the archived email html illustrated version

Unfortunately in Ireland the practice is high impact forestry on marginal agricultural land which has resulted in loss of native habitat, soil erosion, and water pollution. The issues are:

1. Who controls forestry and what are they doing?
2. Why is its impact so bad?
3. What forestry should we be seeking?

Statement by Friends of the Irish Environment on Allegations Made by Representatives of Accreditation Services International and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.

The ‘Nitrates' Regulations 2006 [European Communities (Good Agriculture Practice for the Protection of Waters) Regulations, 2006 (S.I. No. of 2006)] Schedule 1 has been amended to clarify the definition of peat soils. This is given as ‘soils with an organic matter content exceeding 20%'. [Department of Environment, Press Release 19 July, 2006.]

However the definition of peat soils used by the Forest Service was given by the Minister for Agriculture in a written reply to a Parliamentary Question this April. The soils must constitute ‘a peat layer greater than 30 cm on drained peats and greater than 45 cm on undrained peats.' [13955/06]. No reference was made to the organic matter in the soil. For her authority, she referred the Deputy to the ‘Peatlands of Ireland, Soil Survey Bulletin' by R.F. Hammond, 1979.

The story of how the Hen harrier became the hostage to the ‘reckless populism of the IFA leadership’ with the areas to be designated reduced from 287,000 hectares to 169,000 hectares. At the demands of the IFA for the ‘constitutional right to achieve optimal returns on your asset’, a further 9,000 hectares of forestry are to be permitted even in the protected areas, though the population fell from 134 to 105 pairs  2000 – 2005 and the Parks and Wildlife Service itself admits that ‘the bottom line is that new planting represents a net loss of foraging habitat'. 

Other news

Row over new plan to protect endangered hen harriers. Coillte defends felling Lough Corrib wood. Agency questions State's forestry policy. Report calls for plans for forest biodiversity. Salvage logging from burned forests worsens later fires. Certification: Meeting to present the proposals for a new process leading to the development of a Sustainable Forestry Standard for Ireland in conjunction with the Forest Stewardship Council.  

Article of the week

MONTHLY JUNE 2007

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NEXT MONTH: Forestry and the hen harrier, how the deal was struck.

 1. INTRODUCTION Forest Stewardship Council's [FSC] Forestry Certification: frustrating sustainable forestry?

2. LETTERS Forestry certification is just a bad joke Stick to the facts Tony.

3. NEWS Coillte sells stake in Austrian venture [RTE Online] Biofuel bonanza expected from Norwegian wood [ENDS Environment Daily] 'Protected' Congo forest is logged regardless [New Scientist] Tree trade could save planet from global warming [New Scientist] Soybean boom spells bad news for climate[New Scientist]

4. ARTICLE OF THE WEEK Forest Stewardship Council's [FSC] Forestry Certification: frustrating sustainable forestry - Woodmark Forest Certification Public Report on Coillte Teo

5. ABOUT US

 ISSUE NUMBER 174

MARCH 29 2007

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FNN is pleased to return after a long absence. The editors intend to produce monthly issues during the remainder of 2007. Both the website and the mailer are about to be redesigned; until then this PDF is the only format available. Readers who wish to reproduce individual articles and have difficulty with this format may be able to extract them more easily from the website version at http://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.net/fnn/

1. INTRODUCTION Clearfell and the environment

 2. LETTERS Woodlands of Ireland: cypermethrin derogation Forestry as carbon 'offsets' [Irish Times, unpublished]

3 PARLIAMENTARY REPLIES Planting rates and plans Fresh water Pearl mussel Waiving Felling License obligations for environmental reasons Implications of the Habitats Regulations for forestry No requirements for native trees? Brash removal

4. NEWS New protocol to protect hen harrier Killarney fencing in breach of Habitats Directive? Coillte denies pesticides threat to Sneem water

5. ARTICLE OF THE WEEK: Clearfell and the environment. Clearfelling and restoration near Castletownbere, County Cork Clearfell at Rossnacroo, Nr Kilgarvan , Co Kerry Clearfell Near Sneem, Co Kerry Clearfell and restoration at the Ballyhoura Mountains County Cork

6. ABOUT US