Trees, by their nature, are resilient and forests can survive the loss of some trees to disease or pests during the forest cycle. Therefore Coillte does not generally have to intervene to control naturally occurring pests. However, there are a number of factors which pose particular problems for foresters in Ireland.

Our mild moist climate results in a long vegetation growing season which means that, compared with Scandinavia or mainland Europe where low summer rainfall prevents the excessive weed growth, weed control is a serious problem in forestry here. Young trees in the first four years after planting are particularly vulnerable to competing vegetation. Broadleaf trees planted on fertile agricultural land and the slower growing conifers such as Scots pine are especially vulnerable to being choked by weeds which grow much faster than the trees. To counter these problems Coillte practices integrated forest establishment which includes cultivation of the land, use of vigorous plants, and trampling/manual weeding backed up by the minimum use of herbicides in strictly controlled conditions. The process used to evaluate whether herbicide use is needed includes assessing the necessity for use, choosing the correct herbicide and application of the minimum quantities and rates required for effective treatment by spot or band application. Spot application means spraying around the young tree only. Band applications means treating a row of trees. In both cases only the vegetation immediately around the tree is treated.

In regard to insect pests the large pine weevil is the only insect pest against which routine insecticide protective measures must be taken. The pine weevil attacks trees being planted in areas where a crop has previously been harvested and, where this pest is present, use of pesticide is necessary to ensure the survival of newly planted trees.

In treating young forests with herbicides and insecticides Coillte uses only chemicals approved by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and we comply with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act http://www.hsa.ie. Programmes are in place in Coillte to train and certify forest workers, contractors and others to the standard of the National Proficiency Test Council.

In addition, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) model on pesticide risk reduction strategies is applied to our integrated forest establishment (OECD Environmental Health and Safety Publications, Series on Pesticides No. 5, (15-16) http://www.oecd.org.

For both environmental and commercial reasons Coillte seeks to use the minimum quantities of chemicals in its operations. We are endeavouring to continuously reduce the quantity of chemicals used.

In our efforts to reduce the quantity of chemicals used in our forests Coillte:

1. has agreed reduction strategies and targets at Regional level. Details are set out in our Forest Management Unit plans;
2. is reviewing and analysing research trials to determine how further reduction in use can be achieved;
3. is developing the use of low volume application equipment; and
4. is developing a decision support system for use in selecting the appropriate control strategy for use in each situation.

Other developments include:

Collation of data on the weight of chemical active ingredient used per treated hectare in each Forest Management Unit in the past five years. These data provide a baseline to monitor chemical use reduction targets over the next five years; and Use of larger plants and improved monitoring systems for pine weevil outbreaks.