New Scheme To Increase Climate Resilience Of Forestry

The new Climate Resilient Reforestation Pilot Scheme has been launched.

This will offer financial support to forest owners who wish to reforest for a different purpose and to build resilience in response to the challenges that climate brings to Irish forests.

According to the Department of Agriculture, the scheme will build capacity for more sustainable forests that can produce high-quality timber products and deliver important ecosystem services, such as protecting and improving soil and water quality.

Forest owners can choose from three different elements in the scheme: Reforestation for Continuous Cover Forestry; Reforestation for Native Forests; and Reforestation for Biodiversity and Water.

For element one, Reforestation for Continuous Cover Forestry, the grant rate per hectare is €1,800.

For element two, Reforestation for Native Forests, the grant rate for high ecological priority areas is €4,000 per hectare and for all other sites it is €2,225. 

For element three, Reforestation for Biodiversity and Water, the grant rate is €2,500 per hectare.

Launching the scheme, Minister of State Pippa Hackett said: “The scheme aims to increase the climate resilience of the national forest estate by increasing the proportion of forest land managed under permanent forest cover. 

“It provides a pathway to a greater species diversity, decreasing the risk from pest, disease and extreme weather events such as drought and windblow. 

“This pilot scheme offers financial supports to current forest owners who wish to replant their forests in a different way after felling.

“We look forward to engaging with forest owners on their plans for their next forest rotation and incorporating the learning from these experiences into future plans for the scheme.” 

(Source – Irish Examiner – Farming – Kathleen O Sullivan – 29/07/2024)

€73.8m forestry spend by DAFM last year 

The greatest afforestation taking place in Co Roscommon with 189 hectares followed by Co Galway with 139 hectares, department figures show. 

The total spend on forestry by the Department of Agriculture last year was €73.8m.

This expenditure included maintenance grants, grants for forest road infrastructure, annual premium payments and supports for the afforestation of 1,651 hectares.

The greatest afforestation took place last year in Co Roscommon with 189 hectares followed by Co Galway with 139 hectares, department figures show. 

The percentage of broadleaves in new forests created during 2023 was 54%, which was up from 43% in the previous year. This is the first time that the proportion of broadleaves planted exceeded conifer tree planting.

The department has published its Annual Forest Statistics Report for 2024 this week.

Need to increase

Minister of State Pippa Hackett said that “clearly, the pace at which we are expanding our forest estate needs to increase substantially”.

“The impact of the length of the state aid approval process for the new Forestry Programme is reflected in the afforestation figures for last year, with afforestation under the new programme only beginning in September 2023,” Ms Hackett said.

“Notwithstanding that, over 4,000 hectares have been made available for planting by the forest service since then, which I expect to result in increased afforestation figures for 2024. 

“While afforestation is ultimately a voluntary land use choice and there is much competition for land in the current market, the increased funding in place for the new programme makes afforestation a highly attractive option for farmers and landowners.

“I expect that the pace at which we continue to expand the forest estate will increase significantly over the remainder of the programme to 2027.” 

Key figures

The department’s report shows that between 1980 and 2023, over 24,000 private landowners have accessed the grants available to establish new forests, with an average size of 8.6 hectares. 

Farmers have accounted for 82% of afforestation on private lands. The percentage of land afforested by farmers during 2023 was 47%, which was up from 23% in the previous year.

The construction of 78km of private forest roads was funded during 2023, an increase of 8km over 2022. 

During 2023, felling licences were issued for the thinning of 8,144 hectares and the clearfelling of 24,444 hectares. These sum to a total of 505,814 hectares licenced for thinning since 2010 and 184,081 hectares licenced for clearfell over the same period.

In 2022, Ireland’s forests removed 2.4m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents, an increase of 0.34m tonnes compared to 2021.

The census of Ireland has shown that employment in the forestry sector fell from 2,468 in 2016 to 2,138 in 2022, while in the logging and manufacture of wood and wood products, employment grew from 4,000 in 2016 to 4,274 in 2022.

(Source – Irish Examiner – Farming – Kathleen O Sullivan – 28/06/2024)