Illaun Restoration Site: Continuous Cover Forestry Project
In 2020 Hometree purchased an old plantation forest; on a sixteen-acre farm near Miltown Malbay, West Clare. The site consists of two conifer blocks separated by a small ash plantation. Typically of much plantation forestry of its era, it was never really managed, and when it was purchased, it bore all the hallmarks. The spruce trees were over-matured and the ash plantation has been badly affected by ash dieback disease.
Hometree is managing and slowly restoring the Illaun site using a method called Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) with the long-term aim of creating a beautiful, biodiverse native woodland.
Illaun Site Management
Management on the Illaun site began in 2021 as part of the Illaun Farm Forest EIP (European Innovation Partnership). This was a one year project funded through the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine. Through this project we carried out detailed ecological assessments, started replacing a proportion of the existing spruce with native saplings and made changes to increase the biodiversity and ecological condition throughout the site.
The spruce plantation has now been thinned slightly and underplanted with holly and hazel. Birch, alder and oak have been planted elsewhere on site.
The area of ash trees has been affected by blocked drains, as well as the deadly ash dieback disease. Some will survive, but most are in their last throes. Luckily, in death, there is always life. Beneath the dying ash, an area of fen peat has come alive with an array of wild plants and even a few naturally regenerated willow trees: meadowsweet, flag iris and giant hogweed hum of insects in the summertime.
Two of our hedgerows are ancient townland boundaries that date to the 8th century. They have high embankments and deep ditches and already support a range of native woodland flora such as wood sorrel, tutsan, dog violet, yellow pimpernel, barren strawberry and foxglove. One of the hedgerows is even home to an active badger set!
Work to enrich the habitat at Illaun is continuing. Bat boxes have been installed and a series of ponds were created at the end of 2022. These ponds will create critical habitat for freshwater species of plants and animals.
Purchasing a commercial spruce forest, a much-maligned habitat these days may seem an unusual step for a charity focused on creating permanent native woodland. We see it as a huge opportunity to test and demonstrate how best to convert spruce plantations to native woodlands.
