Leitrim says no more trees as Dublin Dáil rally is set
SAVE Leitrim Group will hold a Communities Not Conifers rally outside the Dáil tomorrow 30 th January at 11am and is encouraging all communities effected across Ireland to attend.
A statement from the group said the Irish Government forestry policy has now reached a point where it is incentivising the replacement of people in communities with large swarths of non native mono-culture sitka spruce.
“The plantation of the sitka spruce has been going on for 40 years or more. Currently well over 50% of the available lands are covered in industrial conifer plantations. That’s over 20% of the total area of County Leitrim. Several areas across rural Ireland including County Leitrim are suffering from the government’s policy which is having a very serious negative impact on people, their lives, mental health, businesses, communities, biodiversity, wildlife and their rights.
“This is now exacerbating decline in these communities and rural areas. 147 town lands in Leitrim are now abandoned with many of them fully planted in conifers.
“Farmers and farms are being displaced and their numbers reduced as farm after farm is being sold or planted.
“This has down stream knock on decline in businesses supporting and servicing farmers (agri-suppliers, vets, marts, contractors, machinery mechanics, etc) and also in the towns and villages in these areas.
“Farmers cannot expand or develop their holdings due to the hike in the price of land by the tax breaks and grants for forestry and being snapped up by outside investors getting very significant profit or return on their investments.
“Numerous Electoral divisions across Co. Leitrim have lost between 5% and 12% of their population between the 2011 and the 2016 census and these areas are also those where very high levels of conifer cover exists. This is now speeding up the decline in surrounding areas. The people left in these areas are very isolated and talk of the physical and mental affects of a 60 foot wall of darkness pervading their lives and cutting them off from their neighbours, their familiar landscapes and even reducing their daylight. When these plantations are thinned and clear-felled the haulage of massive loads of timber impact severely on the local roads and no one appears responsible for repairing them but creating access issues for the residents on these roads.
“There are also many other people concerned and affected by this including those whose community services are closing and withdrawing such as post office, Garda stations, schools, etc, who see the diversity in the wildlife significantly declining in these plantations, those whose water quality and fisheries are affected by phosphate enrichment and acidification on these lands which are satisfied and denuded of people for generations come.
“All these people see that the only way that change will happen is to shout stop. We are now insisting that our elected representatives listen to the people and that the few politicians responsible for Ireland’s failing forestry policy immediately change tack and redesign a people friendly sustainable forestry policy which will co-exist fully and properly with people, with farmers, within communities, supporting diverse wildlife and landscapes, sensitive sites and also upholding our water quality.”