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AROUND ONE PER CENT of all the trees in Ireland’s forests fell down during the recent storms.
The bad weather, which was one of the worst storms in the country since Met Éireann started keeping records, felled between 5,000 and 7,000 hectares of forest, mainly in Munster.
Tom Hayes, the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, said it would take Ireland’s sawmills between 8 and 10 months to process all the trees which were blown over.
The figures were put together by a special Government taskforce which was was set up to gather information about the extent of the forest damage. The taskforce made up of forestry interest groups has produced a guidance note for forest owners with advice on what to do next.
The group said that around 1 per cent of the forest volume has blown down, which equals just under 1 per cent of the forest area.
Hayes urged forest owners to get professional advice from qualified foresters about the large-scale destruction and said that there could still be value in the fallen trees.
“I fully understand the shock and anguish experienced by forest owners whose forests have been blown over by the recent storm,” he said.
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Negative spin –
99% of trees stood strong
Give everyone a tax credit and a sapling to plant ….. Problem solved…… Now what about all those mortgages that fell over?
It is all in Munster though so there are probably a lot of people that will loose all their forestry.
I wonder what percentage of pylons came down?
But did they make any noise???
If you left a recording device I’d say it would pick up the noise so – yes it did
So we only lost one percent of our oxygen supply in the last month. That’s fine.
Sad. We have little enough woodland in Ireland. Everyone loves trees and the wood supply is so useful. I don’t understand why new trees are not being planned continually on every available piece of land. Woodland enriches everyone’s life.
The investment in planting is high risk as the time between planting and harvest is so great that alot of things can go wrong.
Would be good if government could fund some campaign. Could create jobs, increase tourism and help the environment in the longer term. Also just generally improves everyone’s quality of life. Nothing improves your mood better than a walk through a forest.
I wish someone had planted a forest in North Co. Dublin. I love walking through them but have to go nearly as far as Wicklow or to Dundalk to do so.
The question is did they make a noise when they fell?
If there was some one close by in did.if there was no one there to here it did it make a sound , that’s the big Q Himmm?
Energy can neither be created or destroyed it can only transfer from one state to another,so if a tree falls over it would create potential energy due to its height. Most of this energy would transfer to the ground or object the tree fell on but some of it would transfer to noise energy so yea, it would make a sound. But you could also argue that the noise energy would have to hit the hammer and anvil in your ear drum for that noise to be heard.
What I would love to know us who counted all the tree’s in the first place?
And how much did they get paid?
Bit of a daft question. There have been tree surveys for hundreds of years, forests are very valuable. Need to raise capital and maintain and harvest forests over years. Hard to get a bank loan when you don’t know what you have.
There’s an innovative software company in Cork that specializes in counting trees
http://treemetrics.com/products.php
So there you go…
Especially along roads in rural areas, I’ve noticed many of the trees weighed down by ivy.
That’s what often creates the danger. The sheer weight of the ivy pulls the tree down.
It only takes a few minutes, to cut the main ivy stem at the base of the tree.
Surely county councils and landowners could co operate on this. Trees are unique part of the visual landscape of our countryside.
It’s not the weight of the ivy that cause trees to fall. It’s the extra surface area which catches more wind. Ivy does no direct damage to trees.
1%?,
Shows just how few tree’s Ireland has,
Ireland had the second smallest forested area in all of Europe, just 10%…..well now 9%, very poor
http://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-forest-area-577152-Aug2012/
I really worry at your maths ability, that’s frighteningly stupid
maths fail ;-)
9.9%
We are also a very small country
Martin please explain how that 10% figure changed to 9% because of this story ? ………. Have you had weather prediction that the story missed ,,,,,,, watch for falling trees
three trees are nine
On martins calculator that the tree fell on its ……. Three*tree =99. Leaves
It’s like the age old marketing ploy used in a sale. Item is for example 50% off and for one day only a further 20% is given. If you know people in general are stupid the above works perfectly at making people think they are getting 70% off the original price when they clearly are not.
The age old simple IQ test is ‘what is 40 divided by a half then add 20′ Answer is 100 but most say 40. People are stupid that is one of the only certainties in life.
Er … losing 1% of trees doesn’t mean losing 1% of forested area. The gaps between the trees count as forested area as long as they’re reasonably contiguous.
No three trees are a small forest .
No, three tress are a small Wood.
No trees were harmed in this article, let’s just be clear on that
The Government is stumped.
They need to branch out and root out the problem, stem the tide and stop barking up the wrong tree. Leaf it alone………wood you believe it.
It’s going down, I’m yelling timber
You better move, you better dance
Let’s make a night you won’t remember
I’ll be the one you won’t forget
Wooooah (timber), wooooah (timber), wooooah (it’s going down)
Wooooah (timber), wooooah (timber), wooooah (it’s going down)
[Pitbull]
The bigger they are, the harder they fall
These big-iddy boys are dig-gidy dogs
I have ‘em like Miley Cyrus, clothes off
Twerking in their bras and thongs, timber
Face down, booty up, timber
That’s the way we like to–what?–timber
I’m slicker than an oil spill
She say she won’t, but I bet she will, timber
Swing your partner round and round
End of the night, it’s going down
One more shot, another round
End of the night, it’s going down
Swing your partner round and round
End of the night, it’s going down
One more shot, another round
End of the night, it’s going down
[Ke$ha]
It’s going down, I’m yelling timber
You better move, you better dance
Let’s make a night you won’t remember
I’ll be the one you won’t forget
It’s going down (it’s going down), I’m yelling timber
You better move (you better move), you better dance (you better dance)
Let’s make a night you won’t remember
I’ll be the one you won’t forget (you won’t forget)
Wooooah (timber), wooooah (timber), wooooah (it’s going down)
Wooooah (timber), wooooah (timber), wooooah (it’s going down)
[Pitbull]
It’s all FG/LAB’s fault
Meanwhile Fine Gael/Labour and the Troika want to sell the other 99% . They want to sell Coillte to pay bondholders, but they were stopped once and they will be stopped again.
Time to put decking and fancy gazebos in my garden again so.
What they don’t tell us is that the sawmills are across the border in Northern Ireland creating bio-mass.
Cheaper firewood .
Does anybody know for sure if the “Brian Brou” oak tree in Co. Clare is still standing following these storms.
Oh yeah, that was the tree that Brian was supposed to have climbed as a boy. Fascinating stuff. Unfortunately I think it did blow over.. 1000 years is good going though!
Would be interesting to find out its official age. If it’s left as is, no doubt there will people climbing what’s left in 1000 years time too.
It was on the tele a couple of weeks ago, think it was Nationwide, they were standing beside the fallen giant. The guy said it was thought the tree started growing in the tenth century.
I wonder what they should do? I was thinking maybe get some really talented craftspeople to make elaborate carvings, depicting aspects from the era, like an axe, a shield, a goblet etc.. These carvings could be worth a small fortune, given their historical and romantic value. Any money raised could go back into maybe creating a new forest. Boru Woods! Just a thought.
Want somebody pllleeeaasssse think of the children?
On the positive side the abundance of timber should mean lower firewood costs next winter. Also many people will have taken the opportunity to collect free firewood themselves.
What about all the native irish trees that were planted on behalf of every irish citizen for the millennium? 13 or 14 years old now. I have 2 certs here issued Nov 2000. One for Rosturra co. Galway and another for Coill an Fhaitaigh co. Kilkenny. Another relic of the FF brigade.
99% of Ireland’s trees are at a 45 degree angle
ever seen trees along the coast of Galway or Clare? Absolutely bent sideways.
Thats treemendous!
Natural selection
Would you say that to the people who happened to be under some of the trees when they fell?
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