Re:The wrong kind of trees: Ireland's afforestation meets re...
by pjc50 on Tuesday July 09, 2019 @05:31AM
(#20390161)
I was going to make a joke about Ireland being too damp to suffer from forest fires, but apparently it's a growing problem: https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/0321/1037836-coillte-fi...
Although this does very much highlight that the forest is a cash crop first, not an environmental project: "The company lost 400 hectares of forest to wild fires in 2018 at a cost of €4m."
Re:The wrong kind of trees: Ireland's afforestation meets re...
by zdragnar on Tuesday July 09, 2019 @04:02PM
(#20396005)
Putting a monetary value on something provides context- it's done in news articles of many types of natural disasters. Not many people (that I know at least) can visualize 400 hectares, or put into words a good description of the natural and ecological harm done by such a fire.
Saying that the fire cost 4m euros is at least something anyone can have context for, since even an urbanite who has never seen more than a handful of trees together knows what money is, and roughly how much some things cost.
Of course, most people will never have four million of anything remarkable, let alone moneys, but it's better than nothing.
Re:The wrong kind of trees: Ireland's afforestation meets re...
by aksss on Tuesday July 09, 2019 @04:39PM
(#20396337)
There are places like that in Alaska, and I heard a forestry guy saying that even though a place get dumped on with rain regularly, a two or three day dry spell negates the preventative effects. A bit of wind and sun dries the trees out quickly, then it's just a matter of lightening, a camp fire, fireworks or an ill-tended burn and the whole thing will go up in flames.
If nature is tolerated only as raw materials maker, they are doing it wrong. Ireland is a developped country; they have scientists, they should use them. They have natural resources, the government should use them. They have firemen, the government should ask their firemen and police if to put a wall of big highly flammable conifers close to houses is a good or a very stupid idea. It opens the doors to blackmail and make them weaker against terrorism also.
Some delicate balanced ecosystems where created when Ireland forests disapeared. They host unique species that will be extinct in no time if you put a frontier of spika spruces sucking all water and light around. More trees is good, but only conifers from an non-native species just does not feel right to me. Feels like a wasted opportunity, and in some aspect also like a deliberate boycott to nature.