The Social, Economic and Environmental Forestry Association of Ireland (SEEFA) has again hit out at the lack of consistency in forestry licensing.
The latest forestry statistics, published by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) shows that the number of afforestation licences issued in the second week of December was half that of the previous week.
Department officials issued 18 afforestation licences in the week ending December 6, while 9 were issued in the following 7-day period.
“As anticipated, December’s early spike in afforestation licenses turned out to be an anomaly rather than the start of a sustained upward trend.
“The number of afforestation licenses issued last week halved, as only roads saw any meaningful improvement.
“This continued lack of consistency comes at a time when demand for licences and their issuance should be peaking,” SEEFA said.
“We hope that once a new government is formed, the new minister will seriously consider engaging with landowners, foresters and rural communities to see how this poor level of licencing is affecting the nation,” the association added.
Forestry
A total of 4,671ha has been approved for planting so far this year, with 569 licences issued and a total of 583 valid applications received.
This is compared to 789ha for the whole of 2023 and 4,972 for the 12 months of 2022.
The total area planted so far this year now stands at 1,559ha, which the department noted only reflects afforestation that has been paid at first grant stage this year-to-date.
In 2023, 1,652ha was planted, while the corresponding figure in 2022 stood at 2,273ha.
As part of efforts to reduce emissions, the last government set a target to increase afforestation to 8,000ha/annum by 2030.
The latest data shows that the department issued 13 private and 15 Coillte felling licences in the week ending December 13.
937 private and 1,000 Coillte felling licences have been granted year-to-date covering almost 21,400ha.
There were 17 forestry roads licences issued in the week up to December 13. Up to that date, the department has issued 831 licences for 315km, while 73km of roads have been constructed this year.
According to the data, 702 licences have been issued this year under the Reconstitution of Ash Dieback Scheme for 2,488ha.
342 licences have been approved for the Native Area Tree Scheme (NTAS) relating to 369ha.
There has been 201 licences for the Deer Tree Shelter scheme (DTS) for 860ha, 180 licences under the Woodland Improvement Scheme (WIS) relating to 1,001ha and 10 licences for the Native Woodland Conservation Scheme covering 79ha.