We have the land that can be put into forestry. Currently, 10% of Ireland’s land is under forest cover and that figure can rise significantly. The fact is that newly planted forests actually take in higher relative levels of carbon dioxide than do their fully mature counterparts. According to Dr Eugene Hendrick, Director of COFORD, during a recent conference entitled ‘The Greening of Irish Agriculture’, “Without their contribution being recognized in the world of targets and compliance, the argument for additional afforestation, from a purely climate change mitigation viewpoint, becomes more difficult.”

Our overall greenhouse emissions are actually much, much less than what is actually stored in our forests. Doctor Hendrick went on to say “Irish forests under the Kyoto regime are expected to remove 11 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere between now and 2012, thereby reducing the impact of climate change and saving the taxpayer over €220 in carbon purchases.”

We are well capable of planting more trees, we have the land to double the current forestation levels. But the industry must conduct itself in a sustained manner. “One of the main services provided by forests is climate change mitigation. This is strongly dependent on having young age classes to balance out harvest and other decreases in carbon stocks. In an Irish context, this involves the need to continue afforestation at 10,000ha for the next two decades,” said Doctor Hendrick.

“Not only will the carbon sink (a system that removes more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it releases) turn negative, but the level of wood energy supply will also fall-off as the forests mature and produce larger tree sizes destined more for higher value markets than fuel,” he said. He continued by adding that pushing forward the program of increased planting will “not only sustain the ability of the national forest estate to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but it will also provide a renewable energy resource and a sustainable raw material for construction, and a range of other uses.”

If you have a forest in Ireland, you can get better prices by following some simple rules.

Provide access to your site. This will facilitate harvesting machinery and timber lorries. Also you must have a good network of inspection paths. This allows anyone to view the quality of your crop, which is very important you want to achieve good prices.

Because of the often fragmented nature of private plantations it would benefit both yourself and your neighbouring forest owners to group together when you are doing any major work such a thinning.

You must time thinning correctly. The trees must be at the correct size.

Always seek professional advice regarding the best way to market your timber. You should also get advice about how harvesting and extraction operations should be conducted, and the making and implementation of the various contracts.

Make sure you know the current market prices. Contact Forest Ireland about professional advice or the Irish Timber Growers Association for details on current price information.

This is why you have to thin your trees out.  You must give preference to the trees that are capable of producing the greatest quality timber.

Of course, there are other motivations for thinning.  These motivations would depend on the type of forest, and the objectives of the landowner.  They would include improvements for wildlife, for recreation, or for aesthetics.

In any forest, there is only so much soil moisture, light and nutrition to go around.  Competition can become so intense as to reduce the overall growth rate.

The solution is forest thinning.

Forest thinning means  cutting out immature or young trees to  improve the overall yield of the whole stand.

Many thinning methods were developed over a hundred years ago during early trials of forest management in Europe.

Here is a brief outline of thinning methods:

• Low thinning;
• Crown thinning;
• Selection thinning;
• Mechanical or systematic thinning.

Low thinning, sometimes called the “German” method or “thinning from below”, involves the removal of any weak and deformed trees that are under the canopy.

This is the oldest thinning technique, and is not used much nowadays, especially in commercial forestry.  This is because the removal of lower trees provides little extra growing space for the dominants.

Crown thinning, also known as the “French” method or “thinning from above”, involves the removal of intermediate and upper level trees.  The idea here is to remove some of the overstory trees to allow light to penetrate to the lower and middle crown classes.

Trees are selected for cutting that are crowding out straighter boled co-dominant trees or are merely competing side-by-side with other trees. Selection is based on health and growth potential, with healthy and higher potential trees left uncut.

Weak or diseased trees in the lower canopy are also removed at this stage for convenience.

There is a higher value for the removed trees and much faster growth for the remaining specimens.  A skilled forester is required for this type of thinning.

Selection, or improvement thinning, involves removing trees based on size, quality, and their position in the canopy.  Many trees are removed using this method and much space is made available to high quality stems.  I

It is impractical for a machine to undertake this type of thinning.  A lot of damage can be done to the surrounding  trees.

Systematic thinning, or mechanical thinning, is based on removing trees in a predetermined pattern.  Quality is not taken into account.   There are different systems used, and most involve taking out complete lines of trees.

The most common method used today is a combination of selective and systematic.

Here, a row would be removed to improve access, normally 1 in 7.  Selected stems are then removed from each side of the rack.

This method is all about compromise.  Many quality stems will be felled when the full line is taken out.  But then there is plenty of access to select the weaker trees for removal.  This means that sufficient volumes of the better trees are left for future growth, while still permitting the contractor to fully utilize harvesting equipment.

The faster your trees are growing, the sooner you need to thin.  If you try and delay thinning to increase the volume of timber, you only increase the risk of windthrow.

The reason for this is simple.  Trees need light.  When they are tightly packed inside the forest, trees can only get access to light by growing upwards.  This fast, upward growth is made at the expense of bottom stability.  So much so that when the forest is eventually thinned, the trees haven’t been able to develop their roots systems properly…a strong wind is all it takes to pull them up and toss them over.

A good indicator that you need to thin is the length of the live crown.  This is the green portion of at the top of the tree.  You should consider thinning if the live crown length is less than a third of the overall tree height.

Not all forests can be thinned.  In some areas, such as along the west coast of Ireland, if your site is very wet and/or exposed, thinning can actually increase the risk of windthrow.

Every forest will naturally thin itself.  When left alone, a forest is a perfect eco-system, and survival of the fittest is king.  Any weak trees will be smothered, and starved of nutrition and light.  Eventually they will die, and in doing so will rot and feed the forest as a whole.  But that is for another article.

So, the main advantages to thinning are:

• It allows easy access for forest management.
• Thinning will improve the quality of the overall crop.
• Overall timber revenue is increased.
• Early source of income to the forest owner.
• Air circulates much more freely promoting stand hygene.
• Improved saleability.

Here are some of the questions you need to ask before you consider thinning.

• How well are the trees growing? Your plantation needs to be capable of supporting yield class 14 Sitka spruce. This means the potential to produce 14 cubic meters per year over the full rotation.
• Is your site at risk from windthrow?
• What method of thinning will you employ?
• By what means will you extract the timber?
• How will you sell your timber?

Forest Ireland specializes in forest inspection paths.  You need to put these access paths into your forest so you can assess the viability of thinning.

Please see our main article…Forest Access Paths

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As you sit quietly reading these lines…what is happening inside your forest?

When you take a walk around your property…what do you imagine is going on deep inside?

How can you know? …The straight answer is you can’t.

6 Reasons Why It Is Essential To Check Out Every Inch Of Your Forest

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1.  The Value Of Your Forest.

The bottom line…how much is your forestry worth?

In the long term, forestry is a stable, secure investment…trees are the only class of assets whose value has risen in three, out of the last four market collapses during the 20th century.  Forestry is the best asset class of the last thirty years.

In times of crises, investors make huge shifts in investment strategies away from stocks and shares into more tangible markets, like forests…because they are real!  It’s a comforting feeling to know that you’ve invested in something that you can physically touch.

One of the greatest emerging markets in Ireland is for wood chips, for use in heating; and the installation of wood chip boilers is on the increase.  Over 2000 hectares of Irish forestry has to be thinned each year to keep pace with the current demand.

Today, heat generation from renewable sources accounts for 4% of total consumption. And this is set to explode as the government must put in place measures to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Demand is growing and investors know there’s big money to be made.

Check it out for yourself.  Look how many investment companies are advertising to buy blocks of standing forest.

So What Does This All Mean To You

This all means that you are sitting on a valuable asset.  And the best news…your asset is only going to increase in value!

But, like all assets, the true worth of your forest needs to be determined.

You need to get a professional forester to do a valuation.  They will survey the entire plantation and give you a present valuation and an estimation of future value.

This is where we come in.  Forest Ireland will open up your entire plantation with inspection paths, so the true money value for your crop can be found.

Only when you know what your timber is worth can you start to make informed decisions about what it is in your best interests to do.

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2.   Your Forest Is At Risk From Infection And Disease.

Because Ireland is an island nation, and our forestry is relatively new, we have not been at great risk from forest pests and diseases in the past.

But with increased movement, in and out of our country, of plant material, logs, sawn timbers, pallets, packing cases, etc, the risk of disease and pest infection increases.  This worldwide threat can be deadly.

An example of this was in July, 2007.  Two consignments of timber from Canada were found to be infested with the pine wood nematode, a microscopic eelworm.  This is a serious danger to European forestry.  Portugal was infected in 1999 resulting in a serious infestation of Portuguese forests.  Millions of trees have since been felled in attempts to eradicate the problem.                Click here for full article.

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3.   Your Trees Need Nutrition.

Proper nutrition is essential if the higher value forest products are to be grown.

You need to be able to walk your plantation regularly to check on the health of your trees.  Your eyes will tell you if they are in need of any help.

What to look out for:

• A change in colour of the trees.
• Shrinkage in shoot growth.
• Shrinkage in needle growth.
• Die back of top or side shoots.
• General reduction of vigour.

Forest Ireland inspection lines give you access into the heart of your plantation.  Although most landowners would know a problem when they see it…you’re blind without proper access.

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4.   Thinning

The reason for thinning out your forest is primarily to  allow the best trees to grow bigger.   The trees that are felled can be either left to waste or extracted for sale or other use.

In order to make the decision to thin, you must first have the forest inspected to be sure that it makes overall economic sense.  (See our upcoming feature on thinning).

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5.   Windblow

You want to be able to see if any section of your crop has fallen.  This is especially true after a heavy storm.  The longer you leave your plantation to grow, the more risk of windblow occurring.  Then you have a crop that is rotting on the ground.

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6.   Through Access

For some landowners, there is a huge benefit in being able to take shortcuts through the plantation.  One farmer told me, he was blocked from getting to the lake at the end of his property until we opened the access paths.  He loved his fishing and the lake was teaming with rainbow trout.

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REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CHOOSE FOREST IRELAND FOR YOUR INSPECTION PATHS:

1.    You enjoy a sense of security in the knowledge that Forest Ireland has been cutting forestry inspection paths for over 12 years.

2.    Forest Ireland is a small team of professional woodcutters who open access paths every day of our working lives.  We don’t do anything else.  We have an experience and knowledge about forestry inspection paths that is second to none.

• Lines are placed to segment the plantation into small blocks of 50 x 50 meters or 100 x 100 meters, depending on requirements.
• We try our very best to cut the paths so that they are easy to walk through.   Not everyone that uses the paths will be able to jump ditches or climb over mounds.
• We put extra emphasis on marking the intersections where the paths will cross.  We do this by opening up more trees and tagging them with tape.  This is very important because these junctions are sometimes  not seen in poor light.
• All entrances are cut extra wide. This is because growth tends to close in entrance arches fairly quickly if they are not cut wide enough.  The last thing you want is the access points disappearing under a burst of growth.
• We use GPS navigation tools to help us place the paths more accurately.  GPS also gives almost perfect line measurements.  This is used in conjuction with the more traditional magnetic compass.
• All paths are marked accurately on the copy of the map that will be returned to you.
• All bad sectors, including stunted growth, brambles, gorse, and windblow etc., are marked accurately on the map that will be returned to you.

3.    You have our promise that when we take on your job, we’ll fix a start date, a finish date, and we’ll stick to it.  You contact us, we agree a price, you send us the maps, and we see you when the job is done.

4.    Your pathways will remain open, with only a small amount of maintenance, for the life of the forest.

5.    Each job that we do is guaranteed.  That is a no quibble, 100% guarantee.

6.    We are a small company and that’s the way we like it.  It means that we can offer a better quality service to our customers through close contact and support, before, during, and after the contract.

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To CONTACT us, just give me a call, I’m Kevin, on 085 1677439.

If you don’t get an answer, you will hear a short message, wait until the tone and leave your name and telephone number.

I will ring you back within 24 hours.

Thank you and good luck.

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Click On These Other sources:

The Farmers Journal On The Importance Of Regular Inspections

Donegal Wood Land Owners PDF On Inspection Paths

Coillte On Thinning