Rapid clearance of windblown timber is a task force priority

The first steps in quantifying the extent of windblow caused by storm Éowyn are underway by the Department’s task force. These include a combination of field inventories and satellite imagery. Until the results of these assessments are available, windblow estimates so far are “conjecture” a Department spokesperson said.

“We hope to have the initial satellite information early next week which will give a clearer picture,” he added. In the aftermath of storm Darwin, estimates of windblow were as high as 5 million m3, but after field inventories, satellite imagery and eventual harvest, the damaged forests yielded 2 million m3 of logs.

This time round, windblow will be “well in excess of storm Darwin,” said Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae because the damage is more widespread. After storm Darwin in 2014, forests in counties Cavan, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo, Mayo, Galway and Donegal largely escaped damage but these were heavily impacted by storm Éowyn.

Private and Coillte forests

In addition to the wider geographical spread of damage, the other major difference is likely to be the division and extent of damage recorded by Coillte and private – mainly farmer owned – forests.

In 2014, storm Darwin blew down 6,122ha of Coillte forests and 2,198ha of private forests – 1.1% of the 750,000ha overall forest estate.

The total forest estate is now 809,000ha and early indications suggest most of the blown forests were established from 1990 to 2006, mainly by the private sector. During this period, 79% of the 252,023ha afforestation programme was established mainly by farmers.

A high percentage of these were planted in the counties hardest hit by storm Éowyn, although Coillte reforested sites were also damaged.

Team approach

Forest owners, forestry companies, foresters, IFA and other stakeholders emphasise the need for a collaborative approach in managing the storm damage. “We are all in this together” was Minister Healy-Rae’s encouraging message to members of the task force.

The Swedish Forest Agency’s (SFA) approach to major forest damage is worth considering. It’s mission “is to coordinate, inform, and support.” The SFA provided funding for a storm-support disaster fund after storm Gudrun in 2005, which included grants for roading, storage of timber and eventual reforestation.

The SFA paved the way for rapid forest clearance, which included the recruitment of harvesting contractors from 15 countries. Sweden also retained many of these to carry out reforestation. Ireland may have to consider recruiting overseas help as our contractors will struggle to carry out harvesting and the resultant large scale replanting programme.

Suspension of felling licences

While acknowledging the Department’s commitment to prioritise felling licences in blown forests, stakeholders contacted by the Irish Farmers Journal believe that the Department needs to grant felling licences automatically to owners of windblown forests as is the practice in other European countries.

The Forestry Act 2014 needs re-examination to allows a similar approach in Ireland according to Padraic Stapleton, chair of the IFA forestry committee.

He believes an area of windblown trees can no longer be called a forest, which is described in the Forest Act 2014 as “land under trees with… crown cover of more than 20% of the total area, or the potential to achieve this cover at maturity”.

Stapleton maintains “there is ample opportunity in the Act to exempt trees from requiring a felling licence in a windblown forest.”

This could be achieved by the introduction of a Statutory Instrument or Ministerial Order.

“There is something seriously wrong with an Act that makes no provision for natural disasters,” said Daragh Little from the forestry management company Veon Ltd.

Markets and prices

The emergency task force advice to forest owners is not to panic sell their timber, but log sales require price transparency which is currently lacking in Ireland.

The main partners in timber marketing are private forest owners, contractors, sawmills and Coillte.

Up-to-date price information is only available to sawmills and Coillte. This places private sellers at a major disadvantage according to Donal Whelan of the Irish Timber Growers Association (ITGA).

“It is in the sector’s interest that the Wood Price Quarterly (WPQ) carried out by UCD and the ITGA be strengthened by also including Coillte’s up-to-date quarterly timber auction sales,” he proposes.

A number of foresters, including Daragh Little, have raised concerns about selling logs by weight, especially where timber dries out during prolonged dry periods.

“Selling by tonne is satisfactory when timber reaches the market soon after windblow, but as timber dries, owners need to consider changing to cubic metres rather than tonnes as well as selling by category end use,” he maintains.

Forestry harvesting contractors and owners in European countries are paid by the cubic metre, which should also apply to Ireland as all harvesters are now equipped with sophisticated computerised measurement systems.

The major challenge facing the sector is avoiding market saturation and a resultant price collapse. This will require a co-ordinated approach to harvesting, transport, sale and timber storage – including the suspension of harvesting standing sales.

This will result in rapid clearance – pending suspension of felling licences – although it will involve longer haulage distances for southern-based timber processing mills.

Sawmills have the capacity to increase processing by at least 40% but the challenge will be to market increased sawn material in Ireland and the UK.

There is likely to be an increase in pulpwood material to board mills and energy outlets. The increased interest in wood energy, including the expansion of the Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH), to cater for larger industrial biomass applications provides opportunities for surplus pulpwood sales.

Bord na Móna’s Edenderry plant, which purchases 500,000 tonnes of wood biomass has a capacity to increase output and it also has the facilities to store logs at a number of depots.

The increased supply of small logs and timber residues also allows the company to achieve its goal of purchasing all home grown biomass rather than relying on 15% imports.

Teagasc information

An information campaign on how to tackle windblow is essential. Teagasc staff will be involved in both one-to-one consultation with forest owners while their ‘Talking Timber’ series of meetings will concentrate on windblow.

“We are currently planning a series of regional windblow meetings in areas affected by storm Éowyn,” said Tom Houlihan, acting head of Teagasc’s forestry department. Euroforest Ireland has an information series up and running from this Monday (see panel).

Euroforest Ireland has taken immediate action to reach out to farmers with windblown forests.

“We have organised a series of 15 information meetings for farmers and other owners beginning this Monday, February 17, at the Family Resource Centre, Claremorris, the Temperance Hall, Longford and the Mohill Sports Complex,” said Paddy Bruton, MD.

“Our foresters will continue the meetings for the remainder of February based on the theme of maximising the value of windblown timber,” he added.

The company’s foresters will hold information meetings in Killeshandra, Co Cavan, Ennis and Scarriff, Co Clare, Loughrea and Ballinasloe, Co Galway, Ballinaglera and Mohill, Co Leitrim, Kilkelly, Co Mayo, Mullaghmonaghan, Co Monaghan, Ballinlough, Co Roscomon and Ballintogher, Co Sligo.

Times, venues and Eircode locations are available on the Euroforest Ireland website (www.euroforestireland.ie). Growers can also contact Euroforest by email (euroforestireland.ie) or phone (0402 26500 or 087 7167108).