The government’s new €1.3 billion Forestry Programme could face stiff competition for land because of the Nitrates Action Programme, a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine has warned ministers.
Senator Paul Daly told the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, and Minister of State for land use and biodiversity, Pippa Hackett, that the impact of the recent water quality review on derogation farmers could not have been factored into the forestry plan when it was being developed.
Senator Daly highlighted that demand for land is likely to intensify because of competition not only from dairy farmers but also from tillage farmers and that could have a knock on effect on the amount of land available for forestry.
Minister McConalogue and Minister Hackett appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine today (Wednesday, October 4) to provide an update on both the forestry programme and the government’s strategy.
Minister McConalogue said that the programme was “all about expanding, protecting, and developing Ireland’s forests and the forestry sector in an environmentally sustainable way”.
“However, if we wish to have a successful programme, we need farmers to plant trees and we really need to reverse the declining interest in forestry.
“It is not always an easy decision to get involved in forestry and I know that farmer engagement in planting has been in decline in recent years,” Minister McConalogue said.
The Oireachtas committee heard that some of the current 437 forestry applications “will require further assessment regarding their eligibility”.
Minister Hackett, told the committee that this is because the government’s new forestry programme now excludes “some areas which might have been planted historically”.
However, Minister Hackett said that she believes the programme is now “very much in line with the spirit of the Shared National Vision that we will plant the right trees in the right places for the right reasons with the right management”.
According to the minister there are certain areas which can no longer be planted in order to “meet our environmental obligations and to avoid the mistakes of the past”.
“An analysis has been carried out on the afforestation files on hand that may be affected by these new restrictions,” she said.
“Of the 437 applications, approximately 3% are in areas that will not now be eligible under the conditions of the scheme, as they are within 1.5 km of a curlew site.
“Approximately 24% of the applications are entirely unaffected by the changes and the remainder will require further assessment regarding their eligibility as they are in areas where new restrictions may apply and this may affect their eligibility,” Minister Hackett added.
She said this was because the applications were either on peat soils, in high-nature-value areas, or in breeding wader areas or a combination of these.
The minister acknowledged that this would require additional work at application stage in cases affected, but added this would be addressed by both virtual and in-person training sessions of all registered foresters across the country from next week.
During the Oireachtas committee meeting the Minister of State for land use and biodiversity acknowledged that there was concern that the “legacy issue of delays in issuing licences will affect interest in planting”.
“Our department has undertaken a great deal of work to address previous licensing issues, by improving processes and increasing resources.
“I believe that we are now in a position to give certainty to applicants as to when they will receive their licence,” Minister Hackett said.
According to the minister, the DAFM is currently working on a licensing plan which will cover the remainder of 2023 and will also “provide indicative plans for 2024”.
“I am pleased to say that we have received 377 opt ins for 3,412ha to date, and that licences began to issue last week,” she told the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine.