If you go down to the woods today You'd better not go alone It's lovely down in the woods today But safer to stay at home For ev'ry bear that ever was Will gather there for certain, because Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic
Unlike the Teddy Bears' Picnic, if you go down to the woods today you're likely to find a very sad gathering of teddy bears. Irish woodlands have fallen on hard times - so much so only the most upbeat and optimistic of teddy bears will be enjoying their day out.
Not one of Co Dublin's eight woodlands has a picnic site. A number of popular woods in Co Cork fell victim to chainsaws and disappeared off the map. Around the country, secure steel barriers and locked gates block access to what are generally considered public amenities; woodland maps and trail signposts have rotted or been vandalised; pathways are overgrown with brambles; fungus grows on mouldy picnic benches. Toilet facilities are only provided in a fraction of the 160 woodlands and forest parks. Fridges, shopping trolleys and burnt-out cars have found a final resting home in the shadows of old oaks, beeches and spruces. Coillte doesn't provide litter bins in any of its woods and asks that people take litter home.
This is just a snapshot of Ireland's woods. It's not just the tree-huggers who are getting wound up. There is a rising tide of concern over the declining condition of these natural green zones. As the concrete sprawl of Lego-land suburbs, towns and villages continues, the more important the woodlands become for providing much-needed recreation space for communities, a safe area for wildlife habitats and a place where children can interact with nature and the environment. Coillte woodlands also provide right of way to many mountains and highlands used by ramblers.
It's an understatement to say recreational amenities are sparse in Ireland. Co Dublin comes out tops for facilities - with adequate parks, coastal walks and purpose-built centres. Co Cork fares badly, but none of the big regional centres, such as Waterford, Limerick or Galway, has anything to boast about. Woodlands within easy reach of centres of population can fulfil valuable social, recreational, sporting and leisure functions.
After wildlife, orienteers are possibly the most frequent users of Irish woods. Walking groups, horses and riders, quad bikers, strollers, shooting enthusiasts, joggers, bikers, scouts and school children on nature walks are also regular users.
While there is no formal right of access to forests, state-owned forests have been open to the public since the early 1970s. During that decade, the Forest Service developed the "open forest policy" through the creation of forest walks and nature trails, forest parks and the provision of specialised facilities, such as the Scandinavian-style log cabins at the 600-acre Killykeen Forest park, Co Cavan. Access to these forests has been maintained by Coillte Teorante, the company founded by State in 1989 to commercially manage state-owned forests. Access to privately owned forests is at the discretion of the owner.
The Forest Service, under the aegis of the Department of Marine and Natural Resources, is responsible for the development and promotion of national forest policy and co-ordination and overseeing all forestry activity within the State. Coillte manages the 438,000 hectares of forest in accordance with strict environmental, social and economic criteria. There are around eight million visits made to forests every year.
"Forests are not only about trees and timber. They are also places of great beauty and tranquillity which provide a haven to which we can all escape from the stresses of every day living. Coillte has 11 forest parks and provides recreational facilities at a further 150 locations around Ireland," according to information on its website.
The forest parks at Killykeen in Cavan; Avondale, Co Wicklow; Lough Key, Co Roscommon; Curragh Chase, Co Limerick; Farran and Gugan Barra, Co Cork; are all excellent amenities with a range of sporting, leisure, nature and tourism facilities. The Wicklow Way is another well-trodden amenity. There are now 20 similar trails comprising some 1,700 kilometres countrywide. Coillte charges users of forest parks a fee, which is used to maintain them to a high standard. However, it is the other 150 forests and smaller woodlands around Ireland that are causing concern. In Growing for the Future: A Strategic Plan for the Development of the Forestry Sector in Ireland compiled in 1996, the Forest Service voices its commitment to the recreational and amenity functions of woodland. The report notes: "Some concerns have been expressed by the public about the standards of maintenance of pathways and picnic sites in Coillte forests. The deteriorating quality of forests near urban areas has also been a growing cause of concern, with evidence that illegal dumping and vandalism are becoming increasing problems."
However, this commitment has not yet been put into action. In March, 1996, two grant schemes were launched by the former Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, with financial support from the European Union, to address this deteriorating situation. This scheme, however, had only limited success. The Forest Service is currently putting the finishing touches to its Neighbour-Wood Scheme, a woodland grant package designed to target forest amenities and counteract the decline. The key source of the neglect of the woodlands is there is no monetary value to recreational use of forest.
Five or six years ago, the situation was different and the woodlands around Ireland were a natural pleasure, says Sean Cotter, a lecturer at Cork Institute of Technology. He is also the founder of Bishopstown Orienteering Club and Bishopstown Hill Walking Club, which have around 10,000 people participating in some 200 events through the year. Since 1982, Cotter has drawn more than 300 maps of woodlands area, charting every bench, path and wooded area: "We've noticed a big change in the last few years. Coillte has taken down footbridges and picnic tables, and has generally stopped maintaining these facilities. Coillte has also closed two Co Cork forests to the public. One of these is Glenbough in east Cork, this was a beautiful site but the trees have been clear-felled now, the lake is drained and it's closed to the public. You get the impression that Coillte no longer encourages the public to use the woods," he says.
Tree stumps stand in place of a number of other forests still listed in Discovering Ireland's Woodlands: A Guide to Forest Parks, Picnic Sites and Woodland Walks compiled by Coillte. West Cork-based Rick Austin is a member of Cork Orienteering and tells of the felling of Warrenscourt, near Macroom, in west Cork. Coillte lists Warrenscourt as having a forest, picnic site, lakeside walks and car-parks.
However, close to 70 per cent of this woodland has been cleared.
Ireland is the EU's least-forested country. Despite having been covered in mixed broadleaf for centuries only 1 per cent of land was in use as forest by the turn of the last century. One hundred years later, this decline had been arrested and now some 9 per cent is woodland, but this is still low by European standards. There are 35 woodlands in Co Cork, compared with three in Co Offaly, three in Co Roscommon, nine in Co Tipperary, two in Co Meath and only one in Co Longford.
Bill Murphy of Coillte says its primary focus is the commercial business of forestry. "Trees have a natural life cycle, so many of the woodlands planted in the 1960s and 1970s now need to be clear-felled. This may be distressing for the public but there's no way around it. In some woods, 60 to 70 per cent of the estates will be cleared, but people can still walk in the felled areas and in three or four years' time, there will be a new crop and new wildlife".
This justification rings hollow. Most European countries boast beautiful woodlands which also operate as "normal forests" - this is where 2 per cent of the woodlands is felled annually, and then replanted ensuring that the public enjoyment of the woods is never interrupted. Coillte acknowledges that the European model is the ideal, and is the system it is working towards.
The irony of all this is that Ireland boasts the EU's fastest rate of afforestation, but most of this stock is commercial investment on private lands. Profits made by an individual or a company from a commercial forest are exempt from income tax and corporation tax, making forestry an ideal pension-fund investment. Money is growing on trees in Ireland and maybe that's why public users are discouraged - although the new NeighbourWood scheme may kick-start a renewed interest in woodland amenities.
Website: www.coillte.ie