As part of the development of the Forest Strategy 2023 to 2030, my Department is continuing to reassess its policy with regard to future afforestation on organic soils.
These organic soils are an extremely important store of carbon in Ireland and any future afforestation must not undermine this function. Consideration must also be given to EU environmental law and the State Aid Guidelines when it comes to the afforestation of sensitive habitats such as peatlands or wetlands.
As mitigating climate change is a central objective of the afforestation scheme it is imperative that the loss of carbon from organic soils through any proposed future afforestation will be offset by the growing forests removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
My Department is working on the development of proposals in relation afforestation of organic soils in agricultural use which deliver a positive greenhouse balance. These proposals will consider peat depth, species selection, site productivity and the potential for future drainage.
The recent UN Global Peatlands Assessment highlights the status of peatlands across a wide geographic range. It is important that we examine country specific data and take account of organic soils found in similar geographic locations.
It is correct to say that this report examines peat soils in similar locations to Ireland. The use of a 10 centimeter peat depth criteria refers to work carried out on tropical forest soils and in the report it uses this criterion to map soil distribution in the Russian Federation. Ireland is currently examining a number of scenarios based on a range of site types and will take account of peat depth as outlined earlier.
