The Climate Action Plan 2023, which was published yesterday (Wednesday, December 21) has set out a number of actions to be taken to increase forestry cover and restore peatlands.

These areas come under the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector.

Unlike agriculture, transport, energy and other sectors, the LULUCF sector does not yet have its own sectoral emissions reduction target.

However, a target for the sector is due to be set in 2023.

The key measures to be taken in the sector are summarised in the plan as follows:

  • Increasing annual afforestation rates from approximately 2,000ha/annum in 2021 and 2022 to 8,000/annum from 2023 onwards, to deliver an additional 28,000ha of afforestation across the first carbon budget period;
  • Developing, assessing, and adopting as appropriate the new Forestry Programme and Coillte’s Strategic Vision;
  • Promoting forest management initiatives in both public and private forests to increase carbon sinks and stores;
  • Improving management for carbon sequestration of 200,000ha of grasslands on mineral soils;
  • Reducing the management intensity of grasslands on 25,000ha of drained organic soils;
  • Rehabilitate 33,000ha of peatlands as part of the Bord na Móna Enhanced Decommissioning, Rehabilitation and Restoration Scheme (EDRRS) and LIFE People and Peatlands programmes.

The period to 2030 is covered by two carbon budget periods: the first up to 2025, and the second from 2026 to 2030.

As well as the actions listed above, the measures to 2025 will include: increasing the store of carbon in harvested wood products; increasing the inclusion of cover crops in tillage to 25,000ha; and increasing the incorporation of straw to 35,000ha of the tillage (cereal) area.

In order to build on these measures for the second carbon budget period, the following measures will be implemented:

  • Incentivising the area of afforestation by 68,000ha;
  • Developing, assessing, and adopting as appropriate the new Forestry Programme and Coillte’s Strategic Vision;
  • Promoting forest management changes and initiatives across the public and private forests to increase carbon sinks and stores;
  • Increasing the inclusion of cover crops in tillage to 50,000ha;
  • Increasing the incorporation of straw to 55,000ha of tillage (cereal) area;
  • Improving the management for carbon sequestration of 450,000ha of grasslands on mineral soils;
  • Reducing the management intensity of grasslands on 80,000ha of drained organic soils;
  • Reducing the management intensity of grasslands on 80,000ha of drained organic soils;
  • Rehabilitating some 35,900ha of peatlands as part of Bord na Móna’s EDRRS and LIFE People and Peatlands programmes, and 41,700ha of additional peatlands, to provide a total of 77,600ha of rehabilitated peatlands.

The Climate Action Plan document says that the government is committed to peatland rehabilitation and enhanced delivery of afforestation.

This, the plan says, will be achieved in the following ways:

  • An enhanced new Forestry Programme which will include a range of forest creation measures, including native woodland expansion and planting of small native tree areas;
  • The continued work of Project Woodland to address the issues with the licencing backlog and streamline the licencing process in the future;
  • An inter-departmental working group to facilitate coordination of the relevant actions to implement the Forest Strategy and Forestry Implementation Plan 2023-2030;
  • Continued funding to the EDRRS for 33,000ha of post-production peatlands across the midlands.

“We [the government] will establish a pathway for our LULUCF sector to become a long-term sustainable net sink making a positive contribution to combating climate change, and supporting our transition to a carbon neutral economy and society no later than 2050,” the plan states.

CLIMATE ACTION PLAN 2023 FORESTRY PEATLANDS