Monkey puzzle trees, Sitka spruces and Monterrey pines are common sights on the grounds of Ireland's stately homes and public gardens, but conservationists say these, and other non-native conifers growing in Ireland, serve more than decorative purposes.
Ireland is helping to preserve the survival of ancient conifer species while they are being logged out of existence in South America and Asia, according to National Botanic Gardens taxonomist, Dr Matthew Jebb.
Irish gardens have been a repository of exotic trees and plants since the Victorian era, when it was popular for rich landowners to collect strange flora for decoration. Though the threat of disappearing rainforest earns more attention, the temperate forests in which the world's conifers live also are under threat. It is estimated that nearly half of the 650 known conifer species are facing extinction, due primarily to logging and land clearance.
The National Botanic Gardens has recently joined the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in a Conifer Conservation Programme to take steps to preserve trees from the temperate forests. The programme established a network of 100 "safe sites" in Britain and Ireland that can act as tree banks.
The key purpose is to maintain genetic diversity among trees threatened or endangered in their native habitats. Dr Jebb said a lack of diversity among any species leads to disease, which in turn threatens the survival of the whole species.
"In Ireland, we are very aware of the genetic problem, since growing only one potato crop led to the Great Famine," Dr Jebb said. "It is a problem with modern forestry too."
Besides collecting threatened or endangered species, the programme has "gone to lengths to bolster holdings of even common species", Dr Jebb said. The monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) may be common, but there are few distinct germ lines, he said, and expanding the seed sources will ensure the survival of many strains of the tree.
There are only three conifers native to Ireland, certain species of the juniper and the yew and the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), but the climate is suitable for the successful growth of approximately 90 per cent of conifers, according to Dr Jebb. The climate on the west coast is especially accommodating for these trees.
In 1991, the Edinburgh gardens officially launched the Conifer Conservation Programme by sending expeditions out to collect seeds from threatened forests on all continents. The National Botanic Gardens received 200 plants including 75 species. "It's not solely conifers," Dr Jebb explained. "We also received and have planted here at Glasnevin many severely threatened Chilean plants."
Because of Dublin's frostier climate, the conifer seedlings which had sprouted in Scotland and grew for a short time in Glas nevin were distributed around the State to Duchas arboreta and private sites.
"We sent seedlings to Fota [the arboretum on an island in Co Cork], to Muckross House in Killarney, to Derrynane [a private site in Co Kerry], among others and most of them are thriving now. They should be about three or four feet high." Derrynane received big cone pines from Mexico and California. These trees already had a strong Irish connection. Also known as Coulter's pine (Pinus coulterii), they were named for Thomas Coulter, the first curator of the Trinity College Herbarium.
The director of the John F Kennedy Arboretum at New Ross, Co Wexford, Mr Chris Kelly, said conservation schemes such as the conifer programme and other plans to grow endangered plants here extend the role of public and private gardens.
"They serve not only as museums and libraries anymore, but play an active role in conservation," he said. "In the short term, we are keeping some seeds from endangered trees and plants in cold storage. In the long term, more than 100 years, the objective is to reintroduce these back into their native habitats."
But environmental policies in the areas of the threatened conifers will have to change if reintroduction is to be successful. "If we can't preserve an ecosystem, we can't preserve a species. There is not much point in collecting something in a zoo or a garden if the ecosystem is gone," Dr Jebb said.
Information about the Conifer Conservation Programme can be found at the website of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh at http://www.rbge.org.uk/ ccp.html Gardens operated by Duchas in Ireland can be "virtually" visited at http:// www.heritageireland.ie