There is more forest area in Co. Cork than in any other county in Ireland, according to a new report published today (Tuesday, August 22).
The report, Forest Statistics Ireland 2022, highlights that Co. Cork has 92,471ha of forest area while Co. Louth has the lowest forest area in the country with just 2,428ha.
It also detailed that in general there were more privately owned forests in 2022 than publicly owned forests for the first time in the history of the state.
According to the report, 76 farmers were responsible for the “afforestation” of 520ha while 232 non-farmers – which includes landowners who in general are not actively farming – accounted for 1,754ha of afforestation in 2022.
The new report highlights that the total area of forest stands at an estimated 808,848ha or 11.6% of the total land area of Ireland and forest cover is also estimated to be at “its highest level in over 350 years”.
Out of the total area, 49.1% is currently in public ownership, mainly controlled by Coillte.
Ownership Area (ha) % Public 397,364 49.1% Private (grant-aided) 288,497 35.7% Private (non-grant-aided) 122,987 15.2% Total 808,848 100
The latest report also outlines that Sitka spruce is the most common species, occupying 44.6% of the total forest area, while over one quarter of the total forest area contains broadleaves.
The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) with responsibility for land use, Pippa Hackett, believes that the report shows that Ireland’s “forest estate is still expanding”.
“In 2022 an additional 2,273ha of new forests were created.
“While these new forests planted in 2022 will ultimately form a valuable part of our national forest estate and will play an important role in sequestering carbon, providing timber and creating new habitats, last year’s level of planting is far below where we ultimately need to be,” Minister Hackett said.
Earlier this month the European Commission approved, under EU state aid rules, a €308 million Irish scheme to support investments in afforestation.
The approved afforestation measure is part of Ireland’s new €1.3 billion Forestry Programme 2023-2027.
According to Minister Hackett the new forestry programme will “mark a turning point for Irish forestry”.
“I believe that the programme will unlock the potential for the sector to get back to planting 8,000ha per annum and more.
“One of the trends we can see from this report is that in the years that most recently exceeded the 8,000ha target, farmers were planting the vast majority of new forests in Ireland,” she added.
The Forest Statistics Ireland 2022 highlights that farmers accounted for “82% of private lands afforested between 1980 and 2022”.
According to the report from 2015 onwards the average size of forest area planted by farmers and non-farmers has worked out at 6.3ha for farmers and 7ha for non-farmers.
Latest figures contained in the report also show that 78.7% of owners have planted one forest which accounts for 53.5% of the overall areas. Since 1980 a total of 23,859 private owners have received grant aid.
Nearly half of the area afforested since 1990 was by individual owners and last year 62% of the area that was planted was by people aged 60 years or more.
The report also details that during 2022, felling licences were issued to the private sector for the thinning of 10,252ha and clearfelling of 14,006ha.
According to Minister Hackett this represented the “highest recorded volume of timber ever licenced for felling in a single year”.
Meanwhile, public forest clearfelling totalled 9,003h last year while 14,836ha of forest was also thinned.