The European Commission has today (Wednesday, August 2) approved, under EU state aid rules, a €308 million Irish scheme to support investments in afforestation.
The scheme aims to support the expansion of the Irish national forest estate on both public and private land, to deliver lasting benefits for the climate, biodiversity, wood production, economic development, employment, and quality of life.
The target of the measure is to reach 18% forest cover in Ireland by the end of 2027, compared to 11.6% today.
The commission said this will be achieved through establishing 8,000ha of new and diverse, multifunctional and climate-resilient forests per year.
Afforestation scheme
Under the afforestation scheme, the aid will take the form of direct grants, covering up to 100% of the eligible costs.
The scheme, which will run until December 31, 2027, will be open to companies of all sizes in the forestry sector.
The commission determined that the measure is “necessary and appropriate to support afforestation in Ireland”.
“It will strengthen environmental protection, including biodiversity and climate action, and contribute to achieving the EU’s environmental and climate-related objectives, as well as strengthen the socio-economic fabric of rural areas.
“Moreover, the scheme will have an ‘incentive effect’ as the beneficiaries would not carry out the investments without public support,” the commission stated.
Forestry
The announcement comes as an area of 1,020ha has been planted in the first seven months of 2023, according to the latest Forestry Licensing Dashboard by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
Afforestation remains below last year’s level, with an additional 1,253ha of new plantings needed in the coming months to reach the 2022 total of 2,273ha.
In July 2023, an area of 233ha was planted, which is 6ha more than during the same month last year. Overall, afforestation levels have been improving in the first half of 2023.
Following significant lows of afforestation in February and March at 23ha and 82ha respectively, the number of hectares planted reached its highest level so far this year in June at 274ha.
Ireland’s €1.3 billion Forestry Programme 2023-2027, which was announced last year, is still subject to approval from the European Commission.