Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 28 Nov 2002

Vol. 558 No. 3

Written Answers. - Afforestation Programme.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

136 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to a programme (details supplied), a Europe-wide programme, which pioneers research into the carbon budget and which has discovered that old forests accumulate more carbon than young plantations; if his attention has further been drawn to the fact that some new forests planted on wet peaty soils will never absorb as much carbon as they release; and if this research will be factored into the way in which Ireland will comply with obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. [24096/02]

Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (Mr. D. Ahern)

I am aware of the research being conducted under the CarboEurope programme and the announcement of the initial results from the project in October.

CarboEurope comprises a cluster of projects with the objective of advancing the understanding of carbon fixation mechanisms and to quantify the magnitude of the carbon sources and sinks for a range of European terrestrial ecosystems and how these may be constrained by climate variability, availability of nutrients, changing rates of nitrogen deposition and interaction with management regimes. A number of scientists involved in the Irish project CARBiFOR are also part of the CarboEurope team. Results from this programme as they become available will feed into Ireland's carbon accounting process.

I would point out that results from Irish research show that the greatest annual accumulation of carbon is likely to occur during the mid stages of forest growth, when trees are growing most vigorously, typically between ages 15 to 25; certainly not when forests are old, when growth, and hence carbon sequestration, is know to fall off considerably. Work that is currently under way in the CARBiFOR project will determine these patterns more precisely. Work is also under way to determine the net effect of the afforestation of peat soils on Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions.

Forests, which are planted on soils classified as peats, comprise only a small part of forests planted since 1990. If the research that is currently under way determines that any of these forests are a net source of greenhouse gases, account will be taken of this in the carbon accounting process. Current research in Finland and Scotland indicates that over a full forest cycle most forests planted on peat soils will have a positive effect in terms of carbon sequestration and similar results are likely to be found in Ireland.

The main forestry contribution to Ireland's climate change strategy will be through new forests planted since 1990. These forests will be on average, nine to ten years old by the beginning of the first commitment period of the protocol, in 2008. At that time they will be storing considerable amounts of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. The strategy anticipates, subject to afforestation levels being maintained, that they will contribute just over one million tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum to Ireland's target reduction of 15.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per annum. Actual storage rates are likely to exceed this figure.