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Forestry Sector

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2021

Tuesday, 30 November 2021

Questions (764, 765)

Matt Carthy

Question:

764. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the hectarage of Coillte forestry within the State; the percentage of which is native broadleaf; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58900/21]

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Matt Carthy

Question:

765. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the hectarage of forestry within the State; the percentage of which is native broadleaf by county in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58901/21]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 764 and 765 together.

Ireland's National Forests Inventory (NFI) in 2017 records the area of forest in Ireland as 770,020ha or 11% of the land area. Conifer species are the dominant forest type and make up 71.2% of all forests. Broadleaved forests represent 28.8%. The table below lists the area and percentage of forest cover per county based on estimates from the national forest inventory. The inventory also provides estimates of the percentage of broadleaves which includes all native species.

County

Forest Area (ha)

Percent Forest Cover within County (%)

Broadleaves %Stocked Forest Area*

Carlow

8,403

9.4

30.1

Cavan

18,032

9.3

40.6

Clare

55,106

17.2

29.1

Cork

90,020

12.1

26.6

Donegal

55,534

11.4

18.0

Dublin

6,011

6.5

40.1

Galway

60,605

9.9

23.2

Kerry

57,540

12.1

29.9

Kildare

10,396

6.1

65.3

Kilkenny

19,825

9.6

30.3

Laois

26,462

15.4

26.0

Leitrim

30,061

18.9

30.0

Limerick

27,933

10.4

17.1

Longford

9,160

8.4

24.7

Louth

2,428

2.9

40.0

Mayo

51,325

9.2

12.6

Meath

13,326

5.7

71.9

Monaghan

5,997

4.6

44.8

Offaly

29,332

14.7

54.1

Roscommon

28,311

11.1

26.0

Sligo

20,980

11.4

23.5

Tipperary

50,241

11.8

27.6

Waterford

26,949

14.7

32.8

Westmeath

15,163

8.2

51.9

Wexford

14,620

6.2

27.9

Wicklow

36,262

17.9

28.2

Total

770,020

The total forest area divided between public and private forests is captured in the National Forest Inventory. The total forest area recorded for the public forest is 391,000 ha, which includes all the Coillte forests. The NFI records that the public forests consists of 79.6% conifers and 20.4% broadleaves.

Question No. 765 answered with Question No. 764.
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