‘Common good’ must prevail over pure profit in State-owned forestry

We are in a climate and biodiversity emergency, so there’s no room for the continued dependence on profit over all else

Left: Sitka spruce plantations are not great habitats for wildlife. The lack of diversity leaves little room for wild plants and animals, from invertebrate life right up to mammals. 

Forestry is a contentious land use in Ireland. There are plenty who appreciate the access that upland spruce forests provide for mountain walks or hiking trails. Others are enthusiastic about the productivity, and timber is certainly something we would be doing well to produce a great deal more of in Ireland. 

But there is a growing cohort of rural dwellers fed up with the expansion of forestry in places such as Leitrim and west Cavan, where farmland is increasingly planted up with spruce — and locals feel overpowered by big, outside investors.