| Environment |
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Environment - A river
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Environment - Clouds over the mountain
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 Environment - Swan on the river
were many forests in Ireland before agriculture started to emerge. Some
6,000 years ago, early farmers started to clear area to allow their
crops to grow. This was only the beginning of a long process of
deforestation. Until the middle of the 16th century, there were still
major natural oak woods. Unfortunately, the following 200 years saw the
island being ripped off of those oak woods, the oak being widely used
for ship timbers, charcoal, tanning and barrels. One has to |
 Environment - Landscape
that by the mid-18th century, the country’s timber mainly came from
imports. This lead to the plantation of pine as local timber was badly
needed. What was considered as wasteland was thus exploited. The two
most widely used pine species, though, are too fast growing and soft,
and are not suitable for real quality wood items. There is nowadays a
strong need for reforestation, especially in areas such as Glencree in
County Wicklow. Forests cover 5.5% of the country and, although the
percentage is slowly going up, the major part of the wood is grown for
commercial purposed. Ireland’s charm once resided in its untouched
countryside, as the country was not as industrialised as other
developed countries. But with when Ireland entered the European Union
in the early 1970s, intensive and specialised farming was encouraged,
as well as the use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers. Major
pollution and land degradation ensued, badly affecting areas such as
the Burren in County Clare. Measures have been taken to reduce
pollution although it still affects a lot of rivers and lakes. The
European Union and the government are promoting the protection of the
environment, less intensive farming methods are being introduced as
well as alternative practices and crops. It is noteworthy that the
construction of large farms meant the destruction of parts of the Irish
heritage, such as ring forts and stone walls.
Unfortunately, pollution does not exclude beaches, which are often
covered in litter, plastic containers and landfill debris, despite EU
regulations on waste management. In an effort to resolve the problem,
the EU Blue Flag is awarded to clean beaches, the list of which is
available from An Taisce (the National Trust for Ireland). You can also
view the list of Blue Flag beaches on www.blueflag.org. In 2001, over
70 beaches were on the list, including seven in Northern Ireland. |
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