Sitka Spruce Forest

Much planting of coniferous forests in the past was a monoculture, usually of fast growing Sitka Spruce such as here, Garvagh Forest, Northern Ireland. With a growing realisation of the importance of woodland management in biodiversity, newly planted forests have an increased range of species of differing ages. This creates some variety of habitat and the wildlife corridors of open space and native scrub that are being left in the newer forests will also benefit wildlife. However these forests are still largely composed of foreign species of limited value to most local wildlife. Visit www.forestserviceni.gov.uk for more details.