Forest design – the shock of the new

While forest design is featured in forestry educational courses, it’s fair to say that it has been a low priority up until recently. This is reflected in the poor design of some forests around the country. A couple of rows of broadleaves around the periphery of forests is all too often an unimaginative approach to forest design.

At its best, good forest design acknowledges the pattern of landscape and its morphology. It considers all aspects that provide landscape with its sense of place including culture, heritage, nature and the forest’s interaction with other land uses.

Forest landscape design is an aesthetic endeavour and so is subjective. Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) forestry guidelines on water quality, landscape, biodiversity, harvesting and related subjects ensure objectivity, especially on environmental aspects.

These provide the mechanism of forest landscape design to demonstrate empathy with the natural and manmade landscape. However, much of what passes as natural landscape in Ireland isn’t natural at all. While our hedgerows date from pre-Norman and Gaelic Ireland, most were planted in a 100-year period from the middle of the 18th to the middle of the 19th century.

However the naturalness of the field system relates to its acceptance over time as a unique landscape feature.

Although hedgerows are found in England, Wales, Normandy, Brittany and parts of Italy, Austria and Greece, the Irish hedgerow and field system is distinctive both in scale, design and flora. While our hedgerows may provide enclosures for non-native crops and livestock, they are colonised by native trees and shrubs such as whitethorn, blackthorn, ash, hazel and willow, although non-native but naturalised species including fuchsia, wild plum and beech are at home in this environment.

Rich habitat

These linear mini-woodlands which comprise 4% of the landscape are now regarded as rich habitat for flora and fauna as well as carbon sink sources with climate change benefits. From a social and aesthetic perspective, they provide the pleasing patchwork of geometric shapes that define the landscape because they are the imprint of farmers and their way of life.

When hedgerows were being established on a large scale, Irish forests had declined to an unsustainable levels. The restoration of a forest resource really only began in the 1950s, so most forests in Ireland are new to the landscape and have had little time to gain acceptance.

Close to 350,000ha were planted during the past 30 years, which amounts to 45% of the forest estate or 5% of the land area. Most of the forests established from the 1950s to the 1990s were established outside the field system or on unenclosed uplands. In some instances they are the visual bridge between uplands and the field system.

As a result, foresters who completed forest design courses in the past, concentrated on forest planning in the uplands, which is where most of the forests were located. But forests are now established mainly on enclosed land since DAFM introduced the 20% rule which virtually eliminated planting on unenclosed land.

Until this retrograde decision is reversed, afforestation will continue within the field system and marginal farmland. This means an increasing number of forests are located in the lowlands, close to dwellings, rivers and roadways.

How forests interact with the field system and this more active and lived in landscape is now a major feature in planning and designing planting sites.

Over the next few weeks, we will explore forest design and how it fits into the landscape from both a close and wide angle perspective. The close perspective takes into account the interaction of forests with communities living nearby and how forests impact on their way of life, their dwellings and other buildings as well as amenities.

People living near forests are concerned about the closeness of forests, so will seek sufficient unplanted space between the forest and dwellings, roadways, rivers and other amenities.

The wide-angle perspective involves forest design that is in harmony with a large-scale landscape and how it is viewed from a distance by visitors and tourists as well as people living in the locality.

The challenge to the forester is to provide forest design that satisfies the needs of all these stakeholders and provide a reasonable income stream for State and private forest owners – mainly farmers.

Later management

And forest design is not only confined to forest establishment but also to later management during forest roading, thinning and especially at final harvesting. At this stage, the size of clearfells will impact on the landscape as will the reforested area. Indeed coniferous crops that are often objected to at the time of planting, may raise objections again at their removal during final harvest.

The biggest challenge facing forest owners after the establishment phase is how to plan future production. This may mean changing the silviculural system on some sites to continuous cover forestry (CCF) or in the case of clearcuts, redesigning the reforested site.

This may include smaller “staggered” clearfells to provide uneven aged forests as well as redesigning the clearfelled forest to incorporate a more diverse species mix as well as providing setback with biodiverse and/or unplanted areas.

The next article will examine forest design to include setbacks to avoid the encroachment of forests on dwellings, rivers, roadways and other features.

Last Friday, Andrew Doyle, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) launched the Forestry Ambassador Programme in Avondale Community College, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, as part of Science Week 2019. Run by Forestry Careers Ireland (FCI), the programme aims to promote forestry as a career option for second level pupils.

The Forestry Ambassador Programme is one of the 15 projects funded by DAFM under the forestry promotion programme.

“I am very pleased to launch this project, aimed at encouraging young people to consider careers in forestry,” said Minister Doyle. “The focus of Science Week is on climate change and forestry is an important part of the Government’s response under the Climate Action Plan. I know that young people are acutely aware of the climate emergency we face and are more than prepared to play their part in finding solutions.”

FCI was established by the Society of Irish Foresters (SIF) to develop initiatives which promote careers in the forest sector. Apart from SIF, it comprises representatives from DAFM, Coillte, Veon, Teagasc, UCD, Waterford IT and Ballyhaise College with promotional booklets and literature provided by the Wood Marketing Federation.

The programme aims to increase awareness of the important benefits of forestry and of forestry as a career option through a series of presentations to be delivered on a voluntary basis to schools throughout Ireland by experienced forestry professionals or forestry ambassadors.

“These will make presentations to senior cycle students throughout the country, outlining the benefits of forests, the science behind growing forests and the various career opportunities that the forestry profession offers, drawing from their own careers and experience,” said Pat O’Sullivan, technical director Society of Irish Foresters.