The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has issued 19 afforestation licences since the start of this year.

According to the latest forestry data published by the department, 18 of those licences were issued in the week up to last Friday (January 10).

The 19 licences issued by officials relate to 154ha of afforestation, with no planting recorded yet this year.

The data shows that DAFM is yet to receive any valid licence applications for afforestation, felling or roads to date in 2025.

The department has issued 27 private felling and 4 Coillte felling licences covering a total of 447ha.

The figures show that 7 licences have been issued this year under the Reconstitution of Ash Dieback Scheme for 9ha.

Since that programme commenced, 946 licences covering 3,449ha have been issued.

There has been 5 licences approved by DAFM up to January 10 this year under the Woodland Improvement Scheme (WIS) relating to 28ha.

No licences have yet been approved this year for the Native Area Tree Scheme (NTAS),the Deer Tree Shelter scheme (DTS) or the Native Woodland Conservation Scheme.

The Social, Economic and Environmental Forestry Association of Ireland (SEEFA) has welcomed the initial forestry dashboard figures for 2025.

"Whilst the holidays saw a slowdown in licensing across the board, the first full week of the year has started well, with 18 afforestation licenses approved for 152ha, as well as 22 private felling licenses, an eight-week high.

"This promising start comes off the back of yet another poor year, which saw a huge shortfall in all departments.

"We encourage the department to continue this momentum into the rest of the year and look forward to working with the new government to grow the sector," the association said.

The department data shows that 1,573ha of forestry was planted last year, down from 1,652ha in 2023.

Licences were issued for 4,844ha of afforestation (2023: 789ha) 322km of roads (2023: 87km) and 21,850ha of felling (2023: 33,416ha)