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17 November 2023
Paul Butler writes about the forest of Cansiglio near Venice in Italy, an area of 6,000ha, which has been under continuous forest management for five centuries.
At the beginning of the 1900s, Ireland had very few trees. In fact, forests covered just about 1% of the land area. Since then, a series of Government grant schemes have encouraged the planting of trees to supply timber and many other services. Today, forest cover stands at 11.6% of the land area. This is still one of the lowest forest covers in the EU. And most of these forests are new, planted since the foundation of the state in 1922. In fact, 64.4% of the public forests are aged 30 years or less, and a massive 89.3% of the private (grant-aided) category is aged 30 years or less.
Forest management in Ireland has understandably been focused on new forest creation. However, now that those first forests are becoming more mature, there is a growing interest and focus on different types of management systems to get the most from this forest resource in terms of timber production and services such as biodiversity enhancement, carbon storage, water protection and landscape improvement.
And we can look to Europe for some guidance on this, as forests in many European countries have been managed for centuries using a variety of silvicultural systems. One such forest is the forest of Cansiglio near Venice in Italy. This is an area of 6,000ha and has been under continuous forest management for five centuries. It is a mainly beech forest and has provided, and still provides, timber, and timber products such as charcoal, to Venice and further afield.
There are many tiny streets and a multitude of beautiful squares in Venice. Some of these squares, such as St Marks are huge, busy, and surrounded by ornate and impressive buildings. Others are tiny areas of peace and quiet between the canals. One such oasis is the Campo dei Frari, an inconspicuous square nestled between a canal and a church. On one side there is a small unremarkable door with a sign that says Archivo di Stato. This small door opens into the cloister of an enormous old monastery. And as you climb the well-worn stone steps on one side of the cloister, you are taken by surprise at the vast space that opens up on the first floor. Room after room and shelf after shelf of hand written documents, all carefully collated and indexed.
It is here, in the old sleeping quarters of the monastery, that all the surviving records of the Venetian state are kept. The oldest record dates from 1545. They speak of olive harvests and marriages. Births and deaths. Buying and selling property.
Archivo di Stato in Venice
Collection of Forestry records
It is here too that the management records of the Cansiglio forest can be found. This is a fascinating collection of hand written records about the forest as well as hand drawn coloured maps of the area. The boundaries marked on these maps almost exactly match the present day boundaries of the forest. So this area has been under active forest management for at least 500 years. The original boundaries were marked by engraved rocks every few hundred meters. These had been covered in vegetation and soil over the years. However, recently, over 200 of these stones have been found using the locations marked on the old maps.
The records are full of familiar themes. We see a beautifully coloured illustration showing how erosion can be avoided by leaving the trees on the upper reaches of the slopes. Another record shows forest areas and associated rotations for cutting trees for charcoal. The whole idea here was to manage the forest in such a way that there were always mature trees to harvest and that a minimum of disturbance was done to the soil and to other forest activities such as hunting. Small areas were cut and allowed to regenerate naturally with seed supplied from the mature trees left standing. Today we call this Continuous Cover forestry or Close to Nature forestry.
Charcoal harvesting map from 1643
Forest Map from 1608
If you go to Cansiglio you will see the forest still being managed that way. Seedlings from trees that were allowed to regenerate naturally 150 years ago are now form mature forests, being tended by today’s new generation of foresters. Small groups are cut for timber and natural regeneration occurs in those gaps. All the timber is cut by chainsaw and hauled out to the road on tiny tractors. There is very little soil disturbance or rutting.
Non-timber products are also encouraged. There is a steady stream of groups that attend guided “forest bathing” walks. There is no charge for the walk but most people stay for lunch in the hostel at the centre of the forest. There is also a successful bee-keeping business in the forest getting a premium price for its honey because that honey and the forest it comes from is PEFC-certified. This certification process independently adjudicates that the forest is sustainably managed.
Deer are a problem in the forest. In fact the bees for many years had no ground forage because all the understory was browsed by deer. However a small number of wolves came into the area and this was enough to frighten the deer into neighbouring areas where hunting was permitted. Deer numbers went down and the forest understory recovered.
Another major source of income is mushroom foraging and there is a large variety of mushrooms in the autumn. Hunting is also popular and the wild boar sausages available in the forest hostel restaurant are very good!
And it’s not all forest. On the old maps a huge area in the centre of Cansiglio was left open for grazing. This is still there today and sheep and cattle are part of this forest landscape. It is truly a place where forestry and agriculture are integrated and from which valuable learnings can be taken.
Timber leaving Cansiglio
Find out more about Teagasc Forestry
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