Storm Éowyn causes serious forest damage

It will take weeks before the full extent of forest damage caused by storm Éowyn is known, maintain foresters, forest owners, Coillte and other stakeholders in the forestry sector.

“The extent of the damage is shocking and the worst I have seen,” said Victor Barber of Western Forestry Co-op.

“Counties such as Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Roscommon and parts of Mayo have experienced severe windthrow,” he added.

“The type of damage ranges from small pockets to total forest plots, reminiscent of storm Darwin,” said Daragh Little, Veon Forestry Ltd. “We are seeing damage in west Clare, counties Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan.”

His staff also report windthrow in parts of Co Laois and the Castlecomer Plateau. Other foresters report serious damage in Co Donegal.

“We have received calls from staff reporting serious damage in Clare, Galway and Mayo, where large areas have been blown both in thinned and unthinned forests, ranging in age from 15 to 30 years,” said Conor Daly of The Forestry Company.

While Daly and staff are still inspecting sites, he told the Irish Farmers Journal that Co Cork and south Kerry have escaped the worst of the damage, although there is severe damage in parts of north Kerry and west Limerick, up to the Shannon Estuary.

Complete wipe out

Six members of the North East Forestry Group (NEFG) reported “complete wipe out” of their forests in the Cavan-Meath area, according to Derek McCabe, NEFG chair.

“Members with damaged crops said they will never thin again, as most of the damage occurred in 20 to 25 year-old thinned forests,” he said.

Pat Neville of Coillte said damage “was extensive” in the company’s forests, but particularly bad in the west and northwest. He said assessment will take time, as the company has forests in all counties and even gaining access to some sites is difficult.

“The Department of Agriculture is working closely with Teagasc, forestry companies, Coillte and private forest owners in assessing the damage,” according to a Department spokesperson.

“We will gather information from these, as well as using satellite imagery, to quantify the extent of the damage,” he said.

Forest clearance and licensing

Once damage is assessed and access is cleared, the next step is to clear the windblown forests. Unlike most European countries where the emphasis is to clear the forest as quickly as possible, Ireland has a cumbersome licensing system, which many foresters interviewed said should be suspended during this emergency. For example, when storm Gudrun hit Sweden in January 2005, felling and clearance began and within 10 months an estimated 50million m3 had been salvaged and almost all timber was removed by mid 2006.

Price collapse was also avoided, because Sweden withdrew all standing sales until the backlog was cleared. Logs were stored in fields and sprinkled with water to avoid degrade as sawmills, co-ops, timber processors, forestry companies and growers combined to maximise the value of the windblown forests. A similar approach is required in Ireland between private growers, farmers, Coillte, sawmills, board mills and forestry companies, which should begin with the immediate appointment of an emergency task force.

Felling licences

A number of forest owners argue for an emergency approach, including the granting of automatic felling licences in all windblown forests.

“Why should you need a felling licence for a crop that is already felled?” asked Derek McCabe.

The Department spokesperson would not commit to a general felling licence for windblown forests, but said that felling licence applications for windblown areas will be speeded up.

“In addition, owners of windblown forests who have yet to apply for a licence can be assured that once their applications are received, they will be prioritised,” he said.

Ireland’s forests have been fortunate to escape serious storm damage, but this is changing. On average, 15% of the annual harvest is windblown or 0.1% of the sanding timber volume of 142 million m3. Storm Éowyn changes this metric and may result in even greater losses caused by storm Darwin in 2014.

Foresters, forestry companies and sawmills interviewed in recent days have called for a rapid response plan.

“We need the Minister of State to immediately lead a taskforce to deal with this disaster and we need a department that recognises it as a disaster and deals with it proactively,” said Daragh Little. “This is an opportunity for DAFM to repair some of the damage caused by their response to ash dieback disease.”

“Forest owners need certainty to ensure that we cannot end up in an ash dieback situation again,” said Padraig Stapleton, chair of the IFA forestry group.

Insurance

Stapleton proposes “a State-private forest insurance scheme”, as it is impossible to insure a forest against disasters such as windthrow and disease attack. This proposal is supported by COFORD, the Government’s forestry advisory body. COFORD proposes the investigation of “a Government-funded insurance scheme to provide confidence and underpin the sector”.

Compensation

While some plantations can be salvaged, many younger plantations will at best produce low-value pulpwood, which may not cover replanting costs. Owners of these plantation will require compensation, which has been pointed out by Padraig Stapleton, Derek McCabe and others. Lessons need to be learned from the ash dieback experience, which was only partially resolved, especially the inadequate tree clearance grant.