A report published today (Tuesday, April 26) by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveals that the afforestation rate last year amounted to just 29% of the area planted in 2007.
This is the first time that the CSO has published figures on afforestation and it confirms the drastic drop in planting rates in recent years.
Last year, 2,016ha of land was planted with forestry, compared to 6,947ha in 2007.
According to the report, afforestation peaked in 2010 with 8,314ha planted.
The highest average afforestation parcel size was 8.4ha in 2009. Last year, it was 7.1ha, the CSO outlined.
Commenting on the release, Niamh Shanahan, statistician in the Environment and Climate Division of the CSO, said:
“The proportion of broadleaf species planted in 2021 was 41% which is the highest share in the 2007-2021 series.
“Alder and ash were the main broadleaf species planted during 2007 to 2013, while alder and birch were the main species from 2015 to 2021.
“Sitka spruce is the dominant conifer species and comprised 86% of coniferous species in 2021,” she said.
Norway spruce, Scots pine and Douglas fir were among the other conifers planted last year.
There has been no planting of ash recorded since 2019 due to the ongoing issues with ash dieback.
“The share of afforested area planted by farmers in 2021 was 18% which was a sharp decline from their 2014 share of 97%,” Shanahan explained.
In 2007, almost 6,500ha was planted by farmers compared to nearly 500ha by non-farmers in 2007.
Last year, farmers accounted for 360ha with non-farmers planting 1,657ha.
Co. Cork had the largest afforested area every year from 2007 to 2016, and from 2019 to 2021.
The rebel county accounted for 17% of the total afforested area in 2021, followed by Roscommon (9.4%), Clare (8.6%), and Cavan (7.9%).
Click on the image below to see a full breakdown of afforestation area by county:
