The harvesting of the timber by the Forest Service is taking place on Naan Island, close to Knockninny Quay.

    The plantation of Sitka Spruce, probably the fastest growing commercial conifer in Ireland was established on the island in 1970 and according to forestry officer, Noel Melanophy, is one of the earliest maturing timber crops in the county, now being felled after just 32 years growing!

    This week, the contractor, Pat McManus, of PM Processing, from nearby Macken was more than halfway through harvesting the timber as he and his team of workmen kept an eye on the weather. All his specialist machinery has to be ferried across to Naan Island using specially adapted barges, supplied by Michael McCaldin of Aghinver Boat Company. And when the timber logs are cut to the right length on the island, they have to be ferried across to a specially built temporary jetty at Knockninny for loading on to lorries.

    However the project is not new to Pat McManus, who has been involved in timber harvesting contracts for many years. He previously harvested conifers on the island in 1990 although admits, the technology has advanced considerably in those 12 years with the expectant output having trebled. He has also recently extracted timber from a number of islands in Co. Cavan, including one on Garridice Lake.

    He explained that previously he would have used 12 tonne track excavators with specially fitted processing heads for felling the trees but now uses more powerful machines of up to 24 tonnes.

    The track machines are fitted with Lako harvesting heads and with onboard computers in the cab and on the head which can tell the operator the volume of wood, length of logs being cut and their diameter. Using contract details directly from the mill, in this case, Balcas, at St. Angelo, the operator will cut and pile the logs according to their eventual use.

    Pat says each of the Sitka Spruce trees harvested on Naan Island, will be used for three different products processed at three different mills owned by Balcas. The main butt of the tree goes to the Enniskillen mill for structural timber, the middle section to Magherafelt for palletwood and the smaller top part for post material in Newtowngore.

    Finnish technology is now at the forefront of the forestry machines, with Pat McManus using the Lako harvesting heads and Timberjack forwarder machines, the eight wheel transport vehicles capable of carrying up to 20 tonnes of logs from the forest to the shore for loading on to the barge. This brings the logs across to the temporary jetty moored off Knockninny, which are then piled ready for the Balcas lorries.

    Each lorry can carry up to 25 tonnes of timber, and by the beginning of this week, some 60 loads of timber were extracted from the island.

    At least six men are involved in the harvesting operation, two harvester drivers, two men driving forwarders and two chainsaw operators.

    Mr. McManus says considerable planning was put in place to make the harvesting operation as efficient as possible and to minimise disruption to wildlife and flora on the island.

    According to Mr. Noel Melanophy, the overall objective is to maintain the integrity of the shoreline and not build any permanent structures which might damage the environmental aspects of the island.

    Naan Island which extends to about 90 acres, is predominantly used by the Forest Service and the remainder is in private ownership.

    Just recently, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Brid Rodgers, announced proposals to create almost 20 hectares of new native woodland on the island, to replace the conifer plantation now being felled.

    Naan Island is recognised for its nature conservation interests and the shoreline is covered by a number of desingiations such as Area of Special Scieintific Interest, ‘Special Protection Area and is also a candidate for a Special Area of Conservation.