Farmland is available for forestry but farmers remain “extremely cautious”, a new paper published by the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) has found.
A significant prospect to grow forestry lies with farmers who are willing and ready to engage, but are being held up by “cumbersome bureaucracy and lengthy screening times”, the ACA said.
Afforestation targets will continue to fall short by “huge margins” if an urgent review of the present forestry framework is not undertaken, the ACA warned.
A total area of 1,569ha has been planted so far this year up until November 10, according to latest figures by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
The paper “Putting landowners front and centre” written by forestry and land use experts Fionán Russell and Andy Dunne was published by the ACA today (Wednesday, November 15).
“In essence, a farmer growing barley is in a different world to a farmer tending his/her 20-year-old oak trees, yet both are raising crops and following the very same principles of agronomy.
“Such integration, along with structured farmer training in forest management would keep farmers meaningfully engaged with their land, making forestry a real farm enterprise,” the ACA said.
Forestry and farmland
The need to fully integrate agriculture and forestry has never been more “urgent” as Ireland seeks to meet its 2030 climate ambitions, according to the association.
Engaging farmers to meet afforestation targets could grow the forest estate to 17% of Ireland’s landmass and offset carbon in a “much greater” way, the ACA said.
Calling for a full integration of farming and forestry, the ACA said that a change in forestry policy should ensure the following:
- No loss of farm income;
- No undermining of farmer status;
- No exclusion from any farm schemes;
- Equitable treatment of ‘old’ forestry and ‘new’ forestry;
- Positive and real valuation of farmer stewardship of all land, including forest;
- A whole farm approach by the DAFM;
- An elevation of farm forestry in DAFM’s thinking;
- Dedication of a well resourced advisory system (public and private).
Farmers must be better encouraged, supported and incentivised to plant trees, particularly as many have expressed a “willingness” to do so, the association said.
‘Missed opportunities’
The Forestry Programme was designed to provide 8,000ha of forestry each year. However, just 2,000ha of forestry per annum is currently being delivered, the ACA said.
While the programme represents a “major opportunity”, the association said that current outcomes highlight “serious shortcomings” in national forestry policy.
Up to now, there have been “huge opportunities” missed to farmland for forestry, ACA president, Noel Feeney said.
“Unnecessary delays in the administration processes and unwavering incompatibility with other farm schemes is undermining this goodwill of farmers,” Feeney said.
“There is a significant amount of land available that is not being harnessed and an urgent rethink is crucial to rectify the existing regulatory and advisory impediments hindering afforestation.
“We acknowledge the merit of the new Forestry Programme but we must see meaningful progress imminently or another opportunity and perhaps, the last one, will be missed,” he said.
A whole farm approach – the entire land area of the farm is treated as a farmed entity – is evidently the route forward to deliver on afforestation while supporting climate goals, the ACA said.