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It has been demonstrated by research that continuity of woodland cover over long periods of time increases woodland biodiversity. This is because there are certain species of plant and animal that are specially adapted to living in woodland habitats, that cannot survive in treeless conditions, and that colonise woodlands very slowly. We also know that during the past 6,500 years, Ireland suffered almost complete loss of its forest cover. By the early 1900s A.D., forest cover in this country is estimated to have dipped as low as <% of the total land area. This had a devastating effect on Ireland's biodiversity, and indeed we may never know how many species have been lost over the past thousands of years. For example, Ireland today is lacking certain species of specialist beetle that live in dead wood in the forest. Nonetheless, forests today that have a long history of woodland cover still have a special value for biodiversity. These forests have all been managed and utilised by humans over the millennia, and the fact that they have been useful to humans has probably guaranteed their survival where other forests have long since disappeared in favour of other land uses.

Coillte recognises the special significance of old woodlands, and in this context completed a Woodland History Survey of its entire estate, in an attempt to quantify and inventory Ireland's historical woodland sites. This is the first systematic inventory of old woodland sites in Ireland. The survey is confined to Coillte sites, which account for about 65% of Ireland's forests.

The survey, which began in 2000 and was completed in 2001, involved a complete review of the old Ordnance Survey maps for the entire estate. In Coillte's Woodland History Survey, the First Edition Ordnance Survey maps (published 1833-1844) were overlaid and compared with copies of the Third Edition maps (the majority of these were published between 1900 and 1915). The area of woodland present on the 1st and 3rd Edition maps was marked out and the type of woodland present was recorded. The historical records were then compared with the current forest type, as recorded on the Coillte inventory data for 2001. Comparison of these maps provided us with a record of changing land use over time.

The boundaries of woodland cover as seen on 1st and 3rd Edition maps was digitised onto Coillte Geographic Information Systems (GIS) also the woodland type present. Now, Coillte's GIS holds mapped information on the extent and type of woodland cover, back to the 1830's, for all its properties.