Forestry strips as narrow as 30m planted along field boundaries with water courses can provide a wide range of benefits, a senior member of the Department of Agriculture’s forestry section has said.

The main challenge in enticing farmers to plant forestry is the footprint on the land and loss of productivity, Kevin Collins of the Department’s forestry inspectorate told a Teagasc webinar on Friday.

“We are trying to stress that even a small area of native woodland can provide major benefits in terms of protecting watercourses and biodiversity,” he said.

Small footprint

Collins said farmers could plant strips as narrow as 20m, with a 10m setback from the watercourse.

In terms of benefits, he explained they reduced the runoff of sediment and nutrients into water, stabilised banks, regulated floodwaters and created a riparian ecosystem.

Farmers can receive grant aid to establish the strips through the Department’s native woodland establishment scheme.

Addressing the issue of a major backlog in the issuing of afforestation and felling licences, Collins said he hoped the sector was emerging from “a dense two years of turmoil”.

The Department has taken on new ecologists and engaged the services of several more as part of a detailed plan to move through the backlogged files, he said.

Goals

Ireland has a target of reaching 18% forestry cover by 2046. Approximately 11% of the country is afforested at present.

Collins said it was hard to set precise goals in the interim, as they varied between forestry programmes. A new forestry programme is currently in development, with the existing one due to end this year.

While the programme was beginning to emerge from a regulator challenge there had been other issues, Collins said.

He pointed to ash dieback saying the loss of ash had been a major blow as it was a species that farmers had “a real connection with”.

However, he said there were major opportunities emerging, particularly in incentivising public bodies and businesses to support forestry.

The Department has launched the woodland environmental fund and woodland creation on public lands scheme to target both.