Green Island my arse.

AndyTheDude

Where are the trees? What has happened here?
No wonder this island is green all year long, the grass doesn't get yellow/red/brown as the seasons change... No trees in cities/towns. Only meadows in the countryside. Very few forests around.
I am missing trees big time.
I watched my neighbor cutting a tree off in his backyard today, I asked why he's doing it, he said that it "blocked the sun".
Have you chopped all the trees off for kindling or what?
You should be ashamed of yourselves. :mad:

MadsL

I hear they are paving paradise and putting in a parking lot.

Canis Lupus

AndyTheDude wrote: »

Where are the trees? What has happened here?
No wonder this island is green all year long, the grass doesn't get yellow/red/brown as the seasons change... No trees in cities/towns. Only meadows in the countryside. Very few forests around.
I am missing trees big time.
I watched my neighbor cutting a tree off in his backyard today, I asked why he's doing it, he said that it "blocked the sun".
Have you chopped all the trees off for kindling or what?
You should be ashamed of yourselves. :mad:

So is Ireland green or not or is this a rant about trees? There are loads of trees in Kerry.

banquo

Sorry, what?

Cookie_Monster

7% forest...

Not so green really...
When you actually get out into the hills and forests its very much greys, browns, yellows, reds and greens, it's not the violently green country we seem to make it out to be, certainly not in relation to other places.

Czarcasm

MadsL wrote: »

I hear they are paving paradise and putting in a parking lot.

Well that's a blast from the past!

True though- you don't know what you've got til it's gone!

1ZRed

The English done took all er trees for boats

AndyTheDude

Canis Lupus wrote: »

So is Ireland green or not or is this a rant about trees? There are loads of trees in Kerry.

Ireland is green and this a rant about trees. Don't care about Kerry.

AndyTheDude

banquo wrote: »

Sorry, what?

Trees, stupid...

AndyTheDude

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

7% forest...

7%... very sad.

Canis Lupus

AndyTheDude wrote: »

Ireland is green and this a rant about trees. Don't care about Kerry.

But Kerry is in Ireland....

EDIT: We've also increased forestation from less than 1% since 1900 so we're moving in the right direction.

Further edit: We're also a small island, if we're to have agriculture we can't have a crazy abundance of trees... Trees might be pretty but cows find it hard to live off them.

bizmark

Yet another person telling ireland it should be ashamed of something :yay:

debabyjesus

Coillte owns about 7% of the land of Ireland. Most of that is forested. 10% of Ireland is forested. It's a vast improvement on <1% in the early 20th century.

padma

One of the shames of colonialism stripping the land of it's natural resources I'm afraid. A lot of Britains navy was built with Irish wood. Yet the Land has increased it's forest since Independence although with non native trees. There are a few spots around the country with proper IRish woodland funnily enough usually around old English Landlords houses.

mikemac1

OP has never been to Portumna.

The forest is huge
Over 1,500 acres

To put it another way, it's a just a shade smaller then the Phoenix Park

Great place to take a mountain bike!


Clare Glens is another great place for a day out.

Procrastastudy

mikemac1 wrote: »

OP has never been to Portumna.

The forest is huge
Over 1,500 acres

To put it another way, it's a just a shade smaller then the Phoenix Park

Great place to take a mountain bike!


Clare Glens is another great place for a day out.

Speaking of Phoenix Park - I seem to remember the odd tree in there, and the various other parks dotted around Dublin. I'm also looking out of my window onto the quays in the middle of Dublin, oh look some trees.

Did it no occur to you OP that for a city to actually exist you need to odd fecking building. Move down the country and live in a tree.

up for anything

This is Ireland. We'd chop down our neighbours never mind a tree or two to get a glimpse of the bloody sun.

mawk

There are a **** load of trees in cork city. Climb up somewhere high and look down and look down on the city. Its mad arbourescent

gobo99

They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum, then they charged the people a dollar and a half (€1.12) just to see 'em

Seaneh

AndyTheDude wrote: »

Where are the trees? What has happened here?
No wonder this island is green all year long, the grass doesn't get yellow/red/brown as the seasons change... No trees in cities/towns. Only meadows in the countryside. Very few forests around.
I am missing trees big time.
I watched my neighbor cutting a tree off in his backyard today, I asked why he's doing it, he said that it "blocked the sun".
Have you chopped all the trees off for kindling or what?
You should be ashamed of yourselves. :mad:

I'm on a train from Galway to Athlone, I take this train every other week and it's just over an hour, for a good 45 minutes of that I'm surrounded by nothing but green fields and trees. Get over yourself ted.

Also, seeing as when we gained independence we had about 1% forestation and we have multiplied that by 10, we're doing pretty ****ing well so far.

Think there aren't enough trees in Ireland? Blame our former colonial rulers.

Chinasea

Totally with you on this OP.

I can speak of Dun Laoghaire where we have had hundreds of trees chopped down for one reason or other (legitimate I guess?) by the CoCo but none replaced. Along the sea front there are numerous paved over pits, where trees that had been planted back in the Victorian era have all since rotted and unfortunately NONE have been replace.

DLRD CoCo had a very elaborate tree strategy drawn up and launched in 2011 but, jeeze I haven't seen any implementation. Great policy, FANTASTIC policy, but where is the planting?????????????

http://www.dlrcoco.ie/parks/Tree_Strategy_2011/Strategy.pdf

Of the few 'green' areas I see very little care and maintenance of the trees. We have had a few trees feck*d into the ground by the CoCo er, em 'workers' , but little or no after care and most have snapped in half etc., as they weren't protected or given any follow up care.

ejmaztec

Canis Lupus wrote: »

So is Ireland green or not or is this a rant about trees? There are loads of trees in Kerry.

Most of them are chopped up and neatly stacked next to people's houses in North Kerry.

mike65

Ireland has been the least forested state for generations, and after nearly a century of independence there has been plenty of time to grow lush broad leaf forests but instead its all pine and spruce.

Annasopra

Dey took our trees

crockholm

If one were to count hedgerows the number increases, my bugbear is the lack of broadleaves, I really do hate the sight of rows of sitka spruce or norwegian spruce,so ugly and alien, also they don't seem to support much wildlife

Sonics2k

Move out of Dublin Op, the whole country has loads of forests.

You may as well move to London and complain about the lack of trees in the East end.

Andy-Pandy

The vast majority of are native forests where chopped down to make boats to fight the armada. This happened in the 16th century so it's a bit of a long shot blaming it on the goverment. But yes, it is very sad.

Sh1tbag OToole

MadsL wrote: »

I hear they are paving paradise and putting in a parking lot.

I always misheard that as "Big paradise, put up a f*cking life"

Ireland has the lowest % of forest in the EU almost, why don't you buy some land and plant a few trees? I think there are even subsidies available if you plant enough of them.

All the land is being used for grazing cattle but land is cheap at the moment so if you want to do something about it buy a few acres and fill with trees

Truncheon Rouge

Green island my arse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh4IXGYbaS8

crockholm

I don't think it was much to do with the Armada,as that battle was won by sending burning ships laden with explosives towards the spanish ships,which were set out in a line in order to transport their continental force in flanders to england, but said tactic and inclement weather proved disasterous.

Ireland lost it's forest cover in the centuries after,much of it in the form of charcoal iirc

jethro081

Sonics2k wrote: »

Move out of Dublin Op, the whole country has loads of forests.

You may as well move to London and complain about the lack of trees in the East end.

actually london has parks all over the place, all of which have trees to one degree or another. and hampstead heath is a great place to visit, as it's so broad and full of trees that you can't see hear or smell the city, so london is doing grand on the tree front.

there is also that massive park in bow in the east end, which has it's fair share of trees.

goose2005

padma wrote: »

One of the shames of colonialism stripping the land of it's natural resources I'm afraid. A lot of Britains navy was built with Irish wood.

Yeah, if only we had 91 years of independence over which we could have rejuvenated our forests. That, or throw up a few foreign conifers and call it a day.

bizmark wrote: »

Yet another person telling ireland it should be ashamed of something :yay:

Well, we should be. It's an ugly country because we don't care about maintaining or improving it.

starlings

mawk wrote: »

There are a **** load of trees in cork city. Climb up somewhere high and look down and look down on the city. Its mad arbourescent

arbourescent

I read that in a hilly Cork accent. Now I'm as happy as a tree.

Andy-Pandy

crockholm wrote: »

I don't think it was much to do with the Armada,as that battle was won by sending burning ships laden with explosives towards the spanish ships,which were set out in a line in order to transport their continental force in flanders to england, but said tactic and inclement weather proved disasterous.

Ireland lost it's forest cover in the centuries after,much of it in the form of charcoal iirc

It is what our oak forests where chopped down for unfortunately.

http://www.woodlandleague.org/documents/A%20request%20to%20the%20Queen%20of%20England%20regarding%20restoration%20of%20Ireland's%20Forests.pdf

Bit of info on it above.

starlings

You know, history of our woodlands aside, I have never heard Ireland called a "Green Island." That would be Greenland, which is covered in ice (whereas Iceland is mostly green). Emerald Isle is a sentimental old pet name. I'm looking forward to when the bluebells come out in the islands of green within our land - the shoots are up already.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSS9PnU6T8s

Cienciano

"Green island" is slang for fist.
PM me op

Green Diesel

It's pretty green in fairness

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Ireland_from_space_edit.jpg

Madam

Maybe the OP lives in a bog

Conmaicne Mara

AndyTheDude wrote: »

You should be ashamed of yourselves. :mad:

:rolleyes:

Yawnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

mikom

AndyTheDude wrote: »

Where are the trees? What has happened here?
No wonder this island is green all year long, the grass doesn't get yellow/red/brown as the seasons change... No trees in cities/towns. Only meadows in the countryside. Very few forests around.
I am missing trees big time.
I watched my neighbor cutting a tree off in his backyard today, I asked why he's doing it, he said that it "blocked the sun".
Have you chopped all the trees off for kindling or what?
You should be ashamed of yourselves. :mad:

Moss and algae not good enough for ya?

crockholm

Though it brings a tear to my eye to say it,I feel the state should get more involved in the planting of more broadleaves. the beech ,though not native, is becoming a rarer sight,i've not seen a beech sapling in a long time. Whereas our weather conditions facilitate the quick groth of conifers,the quality is much less than what comes from scandanavia,which have much greater forests and much more efficient logging.
It just seems to be a very myopic(and Irish) way of looking at it,but people want quick results,in this country we don't use trees as water absorbers either,overall im not confident about it changing any time soon either.

starlings

crockholm wrote: »

Though it brings a tear to my eye to say it,I feel the state should get more involved in the planting of more broadleaves. the beech ,though not native, is becoming a rarer sight,i've not seen a beech sapling in a long time. Whereas our weather conditions facilitate the quick groth of conifers,the quality is much less than what comes from scandanavia,which have much greater forests and much more efficient logging.
It just seems to be a very myopic(and Irish) way of looking at it,but people want quick results,in this country we don't use trees as water absorbers either,overall im not confident about it changing any time soon either.

If you want native, quick, and water-absorbing deciduous trees, most types of willow are ideal. The wood is handy for fuel and wicker and it grows like a weed. I don't know why we don't farm it more.

As for beech becoming rare - I'm too young (in tree-ring years ) to remember Dutch Elm, so I'm a bit anxious about Ash dieback. I'd hate to lose those feathery-leaved hurley trees.

bizmark

goose2005 wrote: »

Well, we should be. It's an ugly country because we don't care about maintaining or improving it.

Have you left your little bubble in ireland or have you traveled the country and seen the many many beautiful sights it has to offer? go to kinsale or Kerry and tell me this country is "ugly".

crockholm

starlings wrote: »

If you want native, quick, and water-absorbing deciduous trees, most types of willow are ideal. The wood is handy for fuel and wicker and it grows like a weed. I don't know why we don't farm it more.

As for beech becoming rare - I'm too young (in tree-ring years ) to remember Dutch Elm, so I'm a bit anxious about Ash dieback. I'd hate to lose those feathery-leaved hurley trees.

Exactly,willow and eucalyptus soak up massive amounts of water and willow is used in wooden pellet production,but hey, better to pay a lad to do nothing with the land so he can plant his arse on a bar stool and soak up guinness and CAP funding all day. Oak can soak 250 L on a warm day.

mike65

crockholm wrote: »

Though it brings a tear to my eye to say it,I feel the state should get more involved in the planting of more broadleaves. the beech ,though not native, is becoming a rarer sight,i've not seen a beech sapling in a long time. Whereas our weather conditions facilitate the quick groth of conifers,the quality is much less than what comes from scandanavia,which have much greater forests and much more efficient logging.
It just seems to be a very myopic(and Irish) way of looking at it,but people want quick results,in this country we don't use trees as water absorbers either,overall im not confident about it changing any time soon either.

The fact nearly a century has passed and Coillte (plus its predecessors) have the square root of feck all to show for their work tells us everything about the dead hand of the state. Forestry is multi faceted, a vital habitat, a renewable source of fuel, a recreation facility and yet they grow nasty "pulping material" instead.

starlings

mike65 wrote: »

The fact nearly a century has passed and Coillte (plus its predecessors) have the square root of feck all to show for their work tells us everything about the dead hand of the state. Forestry is multi faceted, a vital habitat, a renewable source of fuel, a recreation facility and yet they grow nasty "pulping material" instead.

and sold public land out from under us. :mad:

seven_eleven

yeah! and whats up with Greenland! :pac:

crockholm

How could it be any other way? There really is no "big picture" here. How could someone claim kudos for something he won't see down the line ? Quick and cheap is the mantra,doesn't matter if we're just producing pulp or acidifying the rivers, what counts is that our forestry quango will be able to bring out a report claiming record afforestation,thats all

Chinasea

crockholm wrote: »

How could it be any other way? There really is no "big picture" here. How could someone claim kudos for something he won't see down the line ? Quick and cheap is the mantra,doesn't matter if we're just producing pulp or acidifying the rivers, what counts is that our forestry quango will be able to bring out a report claiming record afforestation,thats all

Sadly so true.