The chair of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Forestry Committee, Jason Fleming said that tree planting is down by 75% compared to 2022 as the new forestry programme awaits EU approval.

He said that the ongoing delay in securing State Aid approval for the new national programme, set to run from 2023 to 2027, is causing “major concern” in the sector.

According to Fleming just 94ha of new forests have been established in 2023 which is down by 75% when compared with the same period last year.

“The new forestry programme was announced last November. Four months later and we are still waiting on approval.

“The sector has been in a state of flux for too long. We need the Minister [of state Pippa Hackett] to step up and get the programme approved,” he said.

Regulation

As previously reported by Agriland, just 89ha of new forestry was planted in the first two months of 2023.

This is down by almost 74% on the same period last year when 336ha of trees were planted.

The IFA Forestry chair said that the sector has “seen radical regulatory changes in recent years, with all applications being screened to determine if an appropriate assessment is required”.

Around three quarters of afforestation and felling applications are screened in for appropriate assessment.

“This means that 75% of applications are examined on a case-by-case basis for the implication of a project for a Natura 2000 site and its conservation objectives, so it is clear that Ireland’s forest sector is highly regulated.

“If we are to start to restore confidence and increase planting to meet our targets under the Climate Action Plan 2023, we cannot see more regulation placed on farmers that want to plant, or additional suitable land being restricted from the Programme,” Fleming said.

Forestry

Responding to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy this week, Minister of State with responsibility for forestry, Pippa Hackett said that to date in 2023 there has been 114ha of new afforestation.

The minister said that new planting numbers fell in recent years due to Covid-19, licensing issues and “the wait-and-see attitude” by some applicants in the final years of the outgoing forestry programme.

She said that applicants may have been waiting for the higher grant rates which would be available in the new programme.

Forestry Programme - Pippa Hackett
Source: https://www.pippahackett.ie/

Hackett added that the substantial issue with licensing has been resolved, adding that an interim afforestation scheme was launched to bridge the gap between the schemes.

“To date this year, nearly 1,120ha have been approved for planting in 2023 under those new interim arrangements.”

The minister said that she is “hopeful” that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) will be making a formal submission to the EU in relation to the new forestry programme “in a matter of weeks”.

The government is aiming to create an additional 450,000ha of new forests by 2050.

“I am fully aware of the need to meet our afforestation targets. In fact 8,000 ha per year may not be enough. In the future we may have to go to much higher levels,” the minister said.