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Forestry and Forest Policy in Ireland

Forestry and Forest Policy in Ireland. Séamus Dunne Forest Service Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Features of Irish Forestry. 10.6% of land area under forest, 744,000 ha Fragmented, 47% private, 19,000 owners Dominated by productive non native conifers

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Forestry and Forest Policy in Ireland

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  1. Forestry and Forest Policy in Ireland • Séamus Dunne • Forest Service • Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

  2. Features of Irish Forestry • 10.6% of land area under forest, 744,000 ha • Fragmented, 47% private, 19,000 owners • Dominated by productive non native conifers • Small area of native woodland • Grants to create new woodlands, roads • Roundwood forecast to increase from 3.8 to 7 million m3 by 2028 • Export focussed processing sector

  3. Role of Forest Service • Part of Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, • Regulates forestry in Ireland, principally via • S.I.558 / 2010 (afforestation & forest road construction) • 1946 Forestry Act (thinning & felling / replanting) • S.I.125 / 2012 (aerial fertilisation) • National Forest Inventory ....

  4. ...Role of Forest Service • Promotion of forestry via grants & supports to landowners • Afforestation grants and premiums • Neighbour Wood scheme • Forest road scheme • Woodland improvement scheme • Forest Protection • Forest Reproductive Material

  5. Historical Context • 1500 AD - Largely covered in Forests • Deforestation • Wood required for industry, ironworks • Clearance for farming • 1900 AD – Little over 1% forest • 1920’s Important decade • Start of Government afforestation • Government introduce Controls on Felling

  6. Planting of new Forests - 1920 to 2012 Hectares “Nearly all State planting” Year

  7. Coillte • State owned company created in 1989 to manage the State Forests • Now a modern vertically integrated company with three Divisions • Coillte Forest • Coillte Enterprise • Coillte Panel Products

  8. 1. Coillte Forest • 420,000 hectares, mostly forested • Annual cut 2.4 million cubic metres • Reforestation 6,000 hectares annually • Recreation and amenity • Biodiversity

  9. 2. Coillte Enterprise • Windfarms • Telecoms • Biomass

  10. 3. Coillte Panel Products • SmartPly • manufacture OSB products • Medite • manufacture MDF products

  11. Irelands Processing Sector • Sawmills • 5 large sawmills, Balcas (NI), Glennon Brothers, Murray Timber Group, ECC Timber Products, Grainger Sawmills. • 4 medium sawmills, Coolrain, Laois, Palfab, woodfab. • Panel Boards • 3 Panel Board producers • Masonite Producing door skins • SmartPly producing OSB • Medite producing MDF

  12. “Boom to Bust” House Completions per 1000 population

  13. Surviving the Construction Crash • Sawmills, Coillte and Government agencies combined efforts at International Trade shows • Research into new products and markets • Exports into UK grown from 4% to over 6% market share from 2007 to 2010. • Development of new sawn wood markets in France, Turkey and elsewhere • Demand now outstrips supply of raw material

  14. Benefits of Forestry • €2.2 Billion • 12,000 jobs • 18 m visits to forests • Carbon sequestration • Biodiversity

  15. Current Challenges • Environment versus Commercial Forestry • management in Sensitive areas • Hen Harrier SPAs • Freshwater Pearl Mussel areas

  16. Current Challenges • Ash Dieback disease (Chalarafraxinea) • Fraxinus - very significant tree in Irish context • Huge all-island effort currently underway

  17. Current Challenges • Private Sector • Afforestation • Certification • Forest Roads • Management and Thinning

  18. Thank You • Séamus Dunne • Head of Forestry Inspectorate • Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

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