A quarter century of native woodland conservation will take place this week, as Woodlands of Ireland marks 25 years of the Native Woodland Scheme (NWS).

The event will take place on Thursday, October 8 at the Oak Barn, Drumhierney Woodland Hideaway in Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim.

The gathering for talks, walks, discussions and networking will include a retrospective of how and why the Native Woodland Schemes came into being.

It will also provide an insight into the experience of foresters and ecologists employing the scheme measures and future prospects for semi-natural woodland conservation and management.

Field trips will take place on Friday, October 9, visiting sites where native woodland conservation and establishment measures have or are being applied.

Native Woodland Scheme

The NWS began as a Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) forestry support scheme designed to protect, restore and create native woodlands using Ireland’s native tree species.

The scheme has provided financial support to landowners and other eligible applicants for establishing or managing existing native woodland in various forms since its introduction in November 2001.

It was seen as representing an important change in Irish forestry policy by providing specific support for native semi-natural woodland rather than focusing primarily on commercial plantation forestry.

Woodlands of Ireland's technical advisory group drew up the initial guidelines for a native woodland scheme, working with foresters, ecologists, academics, environmental organisations and other stakeholders.

At the request of its steering committee, the proposal was submitted to the forest service in 1999 and received favourably.

The existence of the NWS since 2001 has to some degree acted as a catalyst in encouraging a greater landscape restoration and expansion of semi-natural woodland habitats in addition to measures funded by the DAFM and the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), according to Woodlands of Ireland.

The late Freda Rountree, as chair of the Heritage Council, convened the initial meeting of stakeholders in July 1997, which opened the path that led to the development of the native woodland scheme.

Thursday's event is part funded by the DAFM under the Forestry Promotions Projects Open Call 2026.

Other funders include the NPWS, the Heritage Council and the Irish Environmental Network.