asked the Minister for Lands whether, owing to the wholesale denuding of our forests and woodland, and the complete disfigurement of many beautiful landscapes, he has devised a national forestry plan for replanting, and if he will state what this plan embodies and when he hopes to put it into operation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Afforestation Plans.
Replanting operations fall into two categories:—those to be undertaken by the State itself and those to be carried out on private lands, either as a condition of licences to fell trees, or voluntarily. As regards the latter, a little is being done at present but the stocks in the commercial nurseries are not equal to the demand and prices are high. Furthermore, it is essential, in most areas, to protect new plantations by the erection of rabbit netting and this material is not procurable in quantity. To persons who plant an acre or more the Department offers assistance in the form of a grant of £10 an acre, under certain conditions, and is prepared to purchase the land sufficiently large in quantity and carry out the replanting itself.
As regards State afforestation, progress has been hampered by the impossibility of securing stocks of rabbit netting and the difficulty, which was experienced during the war years, of obtaining sufficient supplies of tree seeds of suitable varieties. The position as regards rabbit netting is still unsatisfactory and it has not been possible to purchase the required quantities in Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Holland or Belgium. Inquiries are now being made from Sweden, Czechoslovakia and other continental sources. Planting operations have, however, been kept to the maximum figures possible in the circumstances, the following being the figures for the past five years:—
|
1941/42 |
4482 acres |
|
1942/43 |
4318 acres |
|
1943/44 |
4022 acres |
|
1944/45 |
4230 acres |
|
1945/46 |
3598 acres |
Until supply conditions return to normal, I am unable to say how much can be done in the immediate future but it is intended, in accordance with the Department's settled policy, to attain an annual planting programme of 10,000 acres as soon as possible.