A number of forestry issues must be resolved if the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) wants to restore farmers’ confidence in the afforestation programme.
That’s according to the chair of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Farm Forestry Committee Jason Fleming, who met with Minister McConalogue on the issue yesterday (March 30).
He called on the minister to overhaul the Reconstitution and Underplanting scheme and to compensate farmers for the financial impact that the ash dieback disease has had on their woodlands.
“Farmers are being told that they will be the drivers of the afforestation programme,” said Fleming.
“But the reality is that farmers will be very slow to permanently convert land to forestry based on the experiences of others, particularly those that have been affected by ash dieback.
“The minister assured me that the department is reviewing the scheme and any changes introduced will be available to farmers who availed of supports under previous iterations of the scheme,” he added.
The forestry chair acknowledged the positive move but underlined the urgency of introducing a new scheme, and said it must be implemented as soon as possible “so that these farmers can move on”.
Forestry Programme
The issue of the new €1.3 billion Forestry Programme was also raised with the minister during the meeting.
The plan was announced five months ago, however Ireland is still waiting for approval on it from the European Commission
“The delays will have serious implications for the targets set out in the Climate Action Plan 2023 to plant 8,000ha per annum up to 2025,” said Fleming.
He added that the minister encouraged farmers that have secured technical approval to continue to plant trees under the Interim Afforestation Scheme, which would allow them to avail of the higher grants and premia outlined in the new programme.
There are about 1,000 afforestation applications to plant 7,600ha currently in the system that satisfy this requirement, according to Fleming.
However, the IFA chair raised the point that the requirement for farmers to set aside 35% of land area to non-productive areas while only receiving a payment on the land for 20 years was a barrier to those considering planting.
Under this 35% requirement, 20% must be set aside for broadleaf planting, while 15% must go towards enhancing areas of biodiversity.
“Farmers need to paid on this land beyond the 20 years and compensated for the loss of timber earnings.
“The pilot Payment for Ecosystem Service announced under the programme is positive but we need to see this expanded and paid beyond the seven years proposed,” stated Fleming.