The Department of Education has distanced itself from a book distributed to primary schools that champions commercial Sitka spruce plantations despite their well-documented environmental downsides.
The children’s book, Sitka Spruce – the Amazing Timber Tree, has a foreword written by Michael Healy-Rae, the recently resigned minister of state with responsibility for forestry, and depicts Sitka forests as being full of wildlife with trees removed individually while the rest of the woodland “flourishes”.
In reality, such plantations, while critical for the timber industry, are regarded as ecological dead zones that squeeze out most other plants, support few animals and acidify soils and surrounding waterways.
They are also routinely sprayed with pesticides and removed by clear-felling, leaving land barren and exposed to erosion.
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The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) has called for the book to be removed for schools, asking the the department to immediately “address and revise the misleading message”.
“In the context of the global biodiversity crisis the IWT urges the department to provide schoolchildren with educational materials which offer a more balanced understanding of Ireland’s biodiversity, native ecosystems and the pressures they face,” the organisation said.
The book was produced by commercial forestry interests and the department said it had no responsibility for it, its contents or what was done with it.
“The department does not have a role in approving, commissioning, sponsoring or endorsing any content in any publication or product,” it said.
“The decisions on which textbooks, programmes and products to use in primary and post-primary schools are taken at school level.
“External companies and organisations are free to make direct contact with schools with regard to their own resources.”
[ Ireland needs more wild native forests – not lifeless Sitka plantationsOpens in new window ]
The book was originally produced by the Morgan Sindall Construction company in Britain and distributed to schools there.
The Irish version is almost identical and is funded by the Society of Irish Foresters, the Irish Timber Council and the Social, Economic, Environmental Forestry Association (SEEFA).
It carries a foreword by Healy-Rae that echoes the claims about the virtues of Sitka.
He did not comment on the book when contacted, saying he was unwell and unable to speak to media.
The Department of Agriculture, which was his parent department, has been asked for comment.
The book is written from the perspective of a Sitka spruce tree that describes seeing abundant wildlife all around it.
“Careful thought and planning goes into every manoeuvre here and the natural ecosystem is supported and maintained by a healthy workforce,” the tree says.
“The whole woodland flourishes in a constant motion as the forest continues to grow timbers for the built environment.”
It also talks up its carbon capture capacity, which is disputed in many parts of Ireland where Sitka is planted on bogs that would be far more efficient carbon sinks if left alone.
Oisín Ó Néill, IWT nature advocacy officer, said safeguards were needed to ensure “commercially aligned messaging is not presented to children as environmental education”.
“This booklet is one-sided industry messaging presented as environmental fact,” he said.
[ Ireland’s hills are victims of policy that hurts farmers and natureOpens in new window ]
“As anyone familiar with woodlands in Ireland will tell you, a Sitka spruce forest is not a healthy forest ecosystem, and should not be represented as such in educational materials.”
The Society of Irish Foresters said the criticisms were based on older plantations that were 100 per cent Sitka.
“New standards ensure setbacks from rivers, roads and houses etc and all forests now have 20 per cent broadleaves and up to 15 per cent biodiversity [open space or mixed woodland],” it said.
“This allows for a diversified forest that not only secures Ireland’s timber supply but also encourages planting more broadleaves and the creation of new biodiversity areas that might not exist otherwise.”
