Sir, - The press officer of the Department of Marine and Natural Resources has taken issue (January 14th) with my views on forests and tourism in Ireland.
I first wish to commend the Department's spokesperson for his forthrightness in admitting that fully 80 per cent of annual forestry planting in Ireland does not reflect traditional and historical woodland, not least because this admission in effect corroborates my main contention: huge swathes of Irish landscapes are being transformed into massive plantations of mainly American conifers.
Although their press officer attempts to prove otherwise, the incompatibility of these plantations with the natural environment is easily demonstrated. Such commercial plantations are no longer allowed in the heartlands of this environment, the national parks of Ireland. Why? Because they are, on balance, destructive of biodiversity there. For the same reason, they are vigorously discouraged in all important sanctuaries devoted to the natural environment such as nature reserves, Natural Heritage Areas and Special Areas of Conservation.
The Irish tourist industry would do well to ponder the fact that the natural forest, composed of native species, is the climax vegetation and thus the authentic landscape of not only Ireland, but the vast majority of our European neighbours, including the UK. As a result, for environmental reasons but also touristic ones, almost all European countries are now ensuring that new forest plantations contain a 51 per cent minimum of native species. In fact many, like Britain, whose parting legacy to Ireland was this dubious policy of massive coniferisation, insist that new plantings contain even greater percentages of such trees. All these countries - our tourist competitors - have understood that modern tourism is based in large measure on the maintenance and promotion of the authentic natural environment.
However alluring Ireland's massive conifer plantations may appear to the timber accountants of the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, the fact is that they are rapidly destroying the competitive advantage in natural scenery that this country traditionally enjoyed over our neighbours. - Yours, etc.,
From Ray Monahan
Castlegregory, Co Kerry,