Portglenone Forest - A Wonderful Place!

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To help celebrate the diversity of Portglenone Forest, the Forest Service have invited some experts along on May Day Bank Holiday Monday (2 May) to the Portglenone Forest Open Day.

The 'World of Owls' will be there with their selection of owls and birds of prey. Also attending will be the Bat Conservation Group, the Butterfly Conservation Group and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The local Health Walkers Group will be there too.

So why is Portglenone Forest such a wonderful place?

Did you know that this year the trees of Portglenone Forest have put on another 360 tonnes of timber? Trees release oxygen into the atmosphere. They remove carbon dioxide from the air. Each hectare of growing woodland will accumulate (remove from the atmosphere) approximately 200 carbon tonnes. In other words, every five trees growing in Portglenone will offset the carbon emissions caused by any of us driving our car for about 12,000 miles.

Over 150 different species of shrub, flower, fern and moss thrive in Portglenone Forest. One of our best known flowers is the bluebell, and we have around 12 hectares of bluebells at Portglenone. At around 30 bluebells per metre², that’s to over 3.5 million bluebells, probably the greatest spread in Northern Ireland! Due to the late Spring this year, the bluebells should be at their best about the middle of May. In addition, we also have about two hectares of wood amenone (about 600,000 flowers), and the same number of wild garlic and lesser celandine flowers.

The animals in the forest include badgers, woodmice, grey squirrels, bats and rabbits. Our ponds provide ideal mature habitats for frogs, newts, beetles and dragonflies. There is an abundance of woodland birds, including tree creepers, jays and long-eared owls, and the insect life includes butterflies and moths, bugs and beetles, and spiders and centipedes.

At Portglenone Forest the people are an important element. Some people only visit once a year to see the bluebells, other people use the forest regularly. We welcome over 44,000 visitors each year and provide the forum for around eight charity events. About 30 schools use the forest every year: that's about 1,000 pupils who have had lessons with the Forest Guides.

So why don't you come along? If you come for the day, bring a picnic with you. You can take part in a 'Health Walk' at 11am. You can see the birds of prey on display. The experts on bats, butterflies and birds will be on hand to share more information with you. There will be guided walks around the forest with fun facts and activities. You can observe the nest boxes and with luck you will see the Blue tits or Great tits flying in and out. The bat boxes will be inspected by the expert to see if the bats are roosting there.

Come along and join us and be a part of the life in the forest. There will be things to see and do from 11.00am until 4.00pm. For more information contact the District Forest Office, Tel: 028 2955 6000.

All media enquiries to DARD Press Office, Tel: 028 9052 4619.