Forestry Programme Mid Term Review Must Be Used to Address Issues in Sector – IFA

IFA Farm Forestry Chair Padraig Stapleton has called on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to use the mid-term review of the 2023-2027 Forestry Programme to address long-standing issues that are impeding the development of the forestry sector.

“If the objective to expand our forest resource is to be achieved, then Government policy must ensure that forestry as a land use option makes economic sense for a farmer considering it,” Padraig Stapleton said.

“We need to see changes. With just over 1,600 hectares planted in 2024, the current programme is not fit for purpose. We have made a detailed submission outlining changes we believe can help reverse this trend.”

“It is now up to the Department to take these on board and make the necessary changes,” he said.

New measures are needed to reverse the decline in afforestation, to de-risk the investment and restore confidence, while ensuring a balanced regional spread of forestry is achieved.

The Government has significant ambition for the forestry sector as set out in the Climate Action Plan 2024, which aims to increase annual planting rates to 8,000 hectares per annum, to deliver an additional 28,000 hectares of new forest by the end of 2025.

To date just 4,844 hectares of new forests have been established, 17.3% of the planting target.

“The Government must address the barriers identified in the IFA Forestry Programme 2023-2027 Mid Term Review submission and introduce additional supports for farmers where required. The programme has to provide farmers with a supportive framework that builds a competitive, economically viable and sustainable forest sector,” he concluded.