Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2024
497. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if, due to the collapse in the number of new afforestation enquiries that the industry is receiving from landowners and farmers, if he will now meet with stakeholders to make the necessary changes to the forestry programme to better suit Ireland and promote industry expansion. [17990/24]
View answerThe new Forestry Programme 2023-2027 aims to encourage a substantial increase in afforestation by offering attractive and diverse options for planting, especially for farmers. This government has committed €1.3 billion to the Programme in order to support our national ambition of 8,000 hectares of afforestation per year.
The new Afforestation Scheme offers landowners a choice of 12 Forest Types which cover a broad range of planting options including Native Woodland, Continuous Cover Forestry and Emergent Forests. It provides generous incentives to farmers in particular, to re-engage with forestry. These include increases in premium rates ranging from between 46% to 66%, along with a longer premium term of 20 years for farmers, compared to 15 years for non-farmers, across most Forest Types.
An amendment to the Forestry Act 2014 removed the licensing requirement for the planting of native woodland in areas not greater than one hectare and to remove any barriers for such small-scale planting. This resulted in the launch of the new Native Tree Area (NTA) Scheme in 2023 to incentivise small-scale tree planting. This Scheme is aimed at re-engaging farmers with afforestation.
In order to encourage uptake of both the Afforestation and NTA Schemes, we have engaged in extensive promotion of the forestry options available including funding 42 stakeholder projects. These projects will promote the Forestry Programme through a wide variety of approaches and will engage with the wider community to highlight the benefits of forests as a source of biodiversity, enjoyment and inspiration.
A targeted media campaign was rolled out across all media and will continue throughout 2024. More than 1,000 people attended 20 Teagasc-led in-person meetings for the public on the new Afforestation Scheme throughout the country and Teagasc will continue to promote forestry. In addition, my officials are meeting regularly with professional foresters to provide information and any training needed.
Minister of State Hackett has established a Forestry Strategy Consultative Committee (FSCC) to support this work. Members of the FSCC have been selected from a broad range of relevant stakeholders. This Committee will establish a range of sub-groups to inform its activities, and in this regard an Afforestation Technical Working Group has been established which will meet regularly to address any issues with the Afforestation and NTA Schemes as they arise.
I recognise that planting at the scale required is a challenge but believe that it is in all our interests to work towards this target. It will require a concerted and united effort from all those interested in forestry across communities, public bodies, the forestry sector and farmers to make this a reality.
Afforestation is a voluntary land use choice for landowners and building confidence among landowners of the benefits of forestry will be key to increasing afforestation rates on recent low trends. I am committed to working closely with all stakeholders to facilitate further momentum towards increased planting.
