Ireland has lost almost all its native forests

A crucial point going unmentioned in this article is the fact that Coillte, Ireland&#x27;s semi-state forestry business, have been fully complicit in this for decades. People have petitioned that entire time to manage our forests better, or at least provide more transparency (ie, into how they use pesticides), with little success.<p>Instead, Coillte actively work to hide their practices - not just the blankets of monocultured sitka spruce mentioned, but things like drenching those areas with glyphosate (over a ton per year [0]) which then leaks into water supply, or secretively selling off huge tracts of sovereign land to foreign interests.<p>Ireland&#x27;s national parks have faced similar issues [1] despite some strong advocates and obvious solutions. I wish I knew why the two political parties responsible for this hate trees so much.<p>0 - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;irishriverproject.com&#x2F;2022&#x2F;08&#x2F;16&#x2F;coillte-use-of-cypermethrin-and-glyphospate&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;irishriverproject.com&#x2F;2022&#x2F;08&#x2F;16&#x2F;coillte-use-of-cype...</a><p>1 - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.irishexaminer.com&#x2F;lifestyle&#x2F;outdoors&#x2F;arid-41479216.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.irishexaminer.com&#x2F;lifestyle&#x2F;outdoors&#x2F;arid-414792...</a>

<p><pre><code> All the birds in the forest they bitterly weep Saying, &quot;Where shall we shelter or where shall we sleep?&quot; For the Oak and the Ash, they are all cutten down And the walls of bonny Portmore are all down to the ground. </code></pre> <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Bonny_Portmore" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Bonny_Portmore</a>

Temporary grants is just fattening the goose.<p>The government should buy the land instead (paying generously) to anybody wanting to sell it voluntarily. Or maybe propose a system of green legacy for old people wanting to assure that their favorite properties are cared forever as wild areas after they die. sort of &quot;If you wish, you can let part of your land to National Parks, and we will create a forever forest called after your own name. Also here are some tax benefits for your last years&quot;. That would create a lot of new opportunities of business for everybody around the place. And this in turn would attract and fix young families to this areas.<p>Then should try to build corridors between national parks with this donations. We can also dream about a new National Park, but a corridor can deliver also in much less space.<p>The problem usually is the cattle pushing to take every inch of the land

I’m just surprised the English didn’t log the whole place to build more boats hundreds of years ago. Isn’t that what happened to England?

it&#x27;s OK, the market will regulate itself

Imagine if 1% of Ireland were covered in Permaculture Food Forest<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=52o0gCnur7Q" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=52o0gCnur7Q</a><p>Above video is much more hands on than a typical food forest that would be much more plant and forget until various foods can be seasonally harvested. Started as a small holding of boggy ground about 20 years ago.

Yeah it&#x27;s really sad. There&#x27;s only a few slivers left.<p>One time we found an amazing spot with a little cove, only to return and find it logged a few years later. It was so sad.<p>Ireland should be as vigilant as new zealand in protecting its natural heritage. Especially considering how little there is left.