It’s hard to comprehend the damage that Storm Éowyn has wrecked on Northern Irish forests until you see them for yourselves. To get a sense of what we are dealing with, Stephen Reid has produced an incredibly sad but unfortunately truthful video from Tardree Forest.
As we are slowly allowed back into our woodlands, we are coming to terms with the fact that we will not be able to orienteer in some areas for the foreseeable future. We are currently undertaking an audit of our forest maps so that we have a full picture, but stories like 10,000 trees down in Mount Stewart does not bode well.
Please be patient as events are postponed, cancelled or event locations are changed. Please also be mindful that we are 100% voluntary, and so we need members to visit the forests to let us know their status and we may need different officials if event locations are changed.
We may have to make decisions, like replacing forest events with urban or mountain ones, or encouraging members to travel further so they can continue to practice their sport. Please remember that everything we do going forward is to help our club and our sport survive these terrible times.