Forestry and Forest Policy in Ireland
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Transcript of Forestry and Forest Policy in Ireland
Forestry and Forest Policy in Ireland
Séamus DunneForest 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• 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
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 ....
...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
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
19201923
19261929
19321935
19381941
19441947
19501953
19561959
19621965
19681971
19741977
19801983
19861989
19921995
19982001
20042007
20100
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
20,000
State
Private
“Now Nearly all Private plant-ing”
Planting of new Forests - 1920 to 2012
Hectares
Year
“Nearly all State planting”
Coillte
• State owned company created in 1989 to manage the State Forests
• Now a modern vertically integrated company with three Divisions1. Coillte Forest 2. Coillte Enterprise3. Coillte Panel Products
1. Coillte Forest• 420,000 hectares, mostly forested• Annual cut 2.4 million cubic metres• Reforestation 6,000 hectares annually • Recreation and amenity• Biodiversity
2. Coillte Enterprise
• Windfarms• Telecoms• Biomass
3. Coillte Panel Products
• SmartPly– manufacture OSB products
• Medite – manufacture MDF products
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
“Boom to Bust”
House Completions per 1000 population
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
Benefits of Forestry
• €2.2 Billion• 12,000 jobs• 18 m visits to forests• Carbon sequestration• Biodiversity
Current Challenges
• Environment versus Commercial Forestry– management in Sensitive areas– Hen Harrier SPAs– Freshwater Pearl Mussel areas
Current Challenges
• Ash Dieback disease (Chalara fraxinea)– Fraxinus - very significant tree in Irish context– Huge all-island effort currently underway
Current Challenges
• Private Sector– Afforestation– Certification – Forest Roads– Management and Thinning
Thank You
Séamus DunneHead of Forestry Inspectorate
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine