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