Minister Mary Wallace launches Ireland’s largest woodland restoration project 

Friday 7th December, 2007: Mary Wallace TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with special responsibility for forestry, today launched Ireland’s largest priority woodland restoration project which is being co-funded by Coillte and EU DG-Environment under the LIFE-Nature Programme.

This €2.6 million restoration project will, restore 9 priority woodland sites in counties Cavan, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Laois, Limerick, Offaly, Sligo and Tipperary covering over 550 hectares. 

Speaking at the launch, David Gunning, Chief Executive of Coillte said:

“Coillte is committed to nature conservation and biodiversity across its forests and has developed biodiversity action plans for the management of other valuable habitats and species. We manage our forests in a sustainable way, with balance given to environmental, social and commercial priorities and have designated 15% of our forests to be managed primarily for nature conservation purposes. As part of our commitment to responsible forest management we were first awarded the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) Certificate for well managed forests in 2001. 

“We have secured funding under the LIFE-Nature Programme for two similar projects for the conservation and enhancement of western Blanket Bogs and midland Raised Bogs, resulting in the restoration of approx 2000 hectares of blanket bog and 570 hectares of raised bog.”

Speaking at the launch, at Cahir, Co. Tipperary, Minister Mary Wallace said:

“I am pleased today to launch this very important nature habitat restoration project, Restoring Priority Woodland Habitats in Ireland, which is being jointly funded by Coillte and the EU LIFE-Nature Programme.”

Four native woodland habitat types found in Ireland – alluvial woodland, bog woodland, woodland associated with limestone pavement, and yew woodland - are recognised under the EU Habitats Directive as being critically rare.  These woodlands are restricted in their distribution, not just in Ireland, but also across the entire EU. Under Annex I of the Habitats Directive, these woodlands are given "priority" status. Priority woodlands are woods of extremely high nature conservation value and provide habitat, shelter and food to many native plant and animal species.  In some cases, these species are now, themselves, extremely rare and rely on priority woodland habitats to survive.

The launch site at Cahir Park is one of three demonstration sites for the project and is a fine example of yew woodland. This site has a very long history of continuous forest cover since the 1830s.  Removal of non-native tree species here will allow the expansion and natural regeneration of native trees and shrubs.  Yew plants grown from locally sourced cuttings will also be planted on this project site.

This priority woodland restoration project is one of many initiatives that Coillte is currently undertaking as part of its Nature Conservation Programme which was initiated in 1998.

For detailed information on this project and a list of the project sites, visit:  www.woodlandrestoration.ie. 

For further information, contact:

Sean Quealy, LIFE05 Project Manager, Mob: 086-2854054, Email: sean.quealy@coillte.ie

Or

Breda Lyons, PR/Administration Manager, LIFE05 Project, Coillte, Riverview House, Carlow Road, Kilkenny. Tel: 056 7753362, Mob: 087-9980161, Fax: 056 7762615, Email:  breda.lyons@coillte.ie. 

Notes for Editors: 

Coillte is a commercial company operating in forestry, land based businesses, energy and panel products. The company, which today employs over 1,200 people, was established in 1988 and owns over 445,000 hectares of land, approximately 7% of the land cover in Ireland.  

This EU LIFE habitat restoration project will build on draft conservation management plans for the Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) containing the project sites, the development of which by National Parks and Wildlife Service (formerly Dúchas The Heritage Service) was previously supported by EU LIFE funding. 

The principal restoration techniques used in the project include the following:

• Removal of non-native trees
• Control of invasive exotic shrubs
• Natural regeneration of native species
• Reinstatement of natural water regimes
• Control of animal grazing and trespass
• Manual planting of yew trees
• Ecological Monitoring
• Hydrological Monitoring
• Raising public awareness of priority woodland habitats

Overall, these project techniques and actions will help to create the right conditions for priority woodland regeneration on all nine project sites over time.

The Natura 2000 network is the cornerstone of the EC nature conservation policy.  The habitats and species covered by the “Habitats” Directive (92/43/EEC) and the “Birds” Directive (79/409/EEC) are recognised as being endangered or sensitive throughout Europe.  Those sites which are recognised as Sites of Community Importance are designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) under the “Habitats” Directive or Special Protection Areas (SPAs) under the “Birds” Directive, and as such are then incorporated into the Natura 2000 network. The objective is to promote the conservation of biodiversity while taking into account the scientific, economic, social and cultural requirements and specific regional and local characteristics of each Member State.  For more information, visit the web site of the Natura 2000 network www.ec.europa.eu/environment/nature.

Major work under the project’s communication actions include, design and distribution of the project brochure, construction of the project website www.woodlandrestoration.ie, networking with groups from other LIFE projects and a number of managers training courses on native woodland background, flora, fauna and restoration techniques.