Michael Gallagher established a native woodland on his small Donegal holding because he loves trees and wanted to boost biodiversity – and because he wanted to make the farm pay for itself with hardwood timber.
‘I wanted to do something that would combine my environmental concerns and my desire for my farm to generate income to pay for its upkeep,” says Michael Gallagher of the native woodland he has established on his Donegal holding.
“When I took over the farm, I found that working in a full-time job while making the farm pay for itself wasn’t easy.
“I always had a great love for trees. From a very young age I was an environmentalist — I was terribly moved by the massive decline in species diversity and the very few native woodlands we have left in Ireland.”
When Michael took over the 30ac farm at Curraghamone, Ballybofey from his father, he ran sheep and cattle on 25ac. The other 5ac were small pockets of native woodland.
He explored the idea of creating a native woodland on his farm. His first port of call was Teagasc, to find out what financial support measures were available to him.
Woodland Creation
Fifteen years ago, Michael got grant aid approval to establish a native woodland, which consists mainly of oak with a nurse crop of Scots pine and European larch.
Part of the farm is within a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) because of the nearby River Finn. A pure oak woodland was created within the SAC.
Although the contractor planted and looked after the woodland for the first four years, Michael was very much involved from the word go, keeping an eye on the trees while doing small jobs.
His objective is clear: he wants to grow top-quality native hardwood timber while maximising biodiversity value.
He manages his woodland on a close-to-nature basis. The forest will never be clear-felled.
Management Operations
In recent years, management has focused on formative shaping and marking of the potential crop trees, creating a single, straight length of quality timber.
By removing forks or very large competing side branches, you ‘extend’ sawlog length.
Michael also selected his future potential crop trees (PCTs) before starting the first thinning operation. PCTs should have good, straight stem form, have good vigour, be disease-free and be evenly distributed.
He aimed for 300 to 500 PCTs per hectare. Some of these trees will go on to produce the final and intermediate sawlog timber.
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
The other trees are regarded as ‘fill’ and will gradually be removed, providing growing space for the PCTs.
Michael is in the middle of thinning his young woodland for the first time. The focus is on the removal of the nurse crop to give more growing space to the oak PCTs.
He feels that in Ireland we often thin too little and too late so he wants to thin sufficiently strong and on time.
The trees that are being harvested will go mainly for firewood, which provides 100pc of Michael’s home heating (saving him a lot of money); the surplus will be sold to neighbours.
Once the thinning operation has been completed and the final ‘sawlog length’ of the PCTs has been achieved by regular formative shaping, he will start some light high pruning, to avoid knots in the timber.
The lowest side branches will be removed, gradually removing branches up the tree as the tree develops, but without impacting on the development of a healthy crown.
“Improving the quality of my timber is a continual process,” Michael says. “And I love it as the benefits aren’t just for the trees — I get so much pleasure out of the wood and the work that managing it entails.”
Improving Biodiversity
Maximising biodiversity is very important to Michael.
“The explosion in biodiversity, from self-seeded trees such as hazel, holly and hawthorn to an increase in birdlife, has been phenomenal since I converted these fields to a native woodland,” he says.
“I achieved this by keeping grazing animals off the land. That’s why I spent a lot of time making sure that my external fences are in good shape. It is amazing to see how fast nature is evolving because there are no grazing animals to take them out.
“I want this woodland to be as rich and biodiverse as it can be. For instance, bluebells, primroses, celandines, violets are gradually spreading into the newly planted woodland from the native woodland remnants scattered around the farm where they were always in.”
Michael is retaining old trees around the farm as they provide great shelter and nesting sites. He is ring-barking large sycamore trees to create standing deadwood, and to prevent the spread of sycamore seedlings into his native woodland.
Pathways and ESB lines through the woodland double as important open spaces, creating a diverse patchwork of habitats.
In one section of the woodland where the oak didn’t perform too well, the Scots pine is favoured, so it will develop into a Scots pine wood.
“I would love to be here in 200 years and look at magnificent trees in a rich woodland ecosystem,” says Michael. “But I’m so happy that I’m here at the beginning, creating this special place.
“For this woodland to be here after all that time would be an excellent legacy – leaving this place better than when I got it.”
Ireland needs many more Michaels.
Steven Meyen is a Teagasc forestry advisor based in Ballybofey; steven.meyen@teagasc.ie
(Source – Irish Independent – Indo farming – Steven Meyen – 01/04/2022)