The felling and uprooting of the trees, in a location adjacent to a Cork area of special conservation, was described by Judge Colm Roberts at Mallow District Court as “barbarism” and an act that was “almost delinquent”.
Pensioner Daniel Finn of Tevenie, Dromina, Charleville, Co Cork, had a prosecution taken against him by the Housing, Local Government and Heritage Minister.
Claire Deasy, a National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) conservation warden, previously told Mallow District Court that she visited the site at Stream Hill in Doneraile, Co Cork, last April.
Ms Deasy said that around 250 mature and semi-mature trees had been knocked down and uprooted in an area adjacent to the Ballyhoura Mountains Special Area of Conservation.
She told Judge Roberts that a combined total of 3.7 hectares of vegetation had been removed from the site. Significant destruction had also been caused to an aquatic and fisheries habitat in a watercourse known to support salmonids.
Ms Deasy added that a significant amount of hedgerow was also removed in addition to the destruction of 350 metres of river habitat along the banks of the stream. She said Finn claimed that he was “improving the land for agriculture”.
Ms Deasy said it could take “a hundred years” to replace the trees destroyed.
Finn pleaded guilty to committing the offences, which are contrary to the Wildlife Act of 1976, over a period between March 1 and August 31 last year.
Defence solicitor Marie Ford said her client had expressed a willingness to make a donation to a wildlife charity to show his remorse for his actions.
Judge Roberts asked if Finn said that the donation would exceed the maximum fine of €5,000 in the case. “The damage (is such here) that it isn’t even estimable. He has to think, ‘Do I want to be remembered as an environmental terrorist or someone who made a mistake and wants to fix it?’ This is barbarism and the damage is almost delinquent,” he said.
He said he expected to be given an “extensive proposal” in relation to the proposed charity donation by the defendant.
Judge Roberts said that if the donation amount offered was not “serious and significant”, a conviction would follow.
