As a farmer myself, I know very well the highs and lows of farming life. I farm beef and sheep with my husband Mark in Co Offaly and about 15ac of our land is planted with trees. I also know the factors that influenced our decision to plant. For us, it came down to the twin benefits of making a positive contribution to the environment and diversifying the farm income. After our experience, I would have no hesitation in encouraging other livestock farmers to consider the combined farm-forestry model.
I now have a different role as minister with responsibility for forestry, and I am hugely excited to shape the opportunity that Irish forestry offers to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of our country. The programme for government is ambitious for the sector, and I’m determined to work with all stakeholders to achieve this ambition. My commitment, and that of the Government, to the advancement of Irish forestry is unequivocal.
Challenges
The forestry sector has been experiencing its fair share of challenges in recent times, not least the ongoing difficulties with issuing licences for afforestation, roads and felling. I am acutely aware of these issues and my first and most pressing priority is to ensure that we have an efficient and functioning licensing system. The reasons for the delays in issuing licences are well documented at this stage, and require the most fundamental changes to our licensing system in its history. This has been a huge task and I completely understand the frustrations of applicants awaiting licences.
My department has invested heavily in resources and set ourselves challenging output targets to speed up the processing of licences. If you have a licence application, please bear with us and be assured that everything possible is being done to process it.
My immediate priority is to reform the legislation underpinning the forestry appeals system and align it with best practice in other licensing and appeals processes. I published a detailed bill on this last month, and my department is currently working through the almost 8,000 submissions received. The Government is committed to progressing this bill as quickly as possible, and you can expect to see significant progress in the coming weeks.
Notwithstanding current difficulties, we must also look towards the future of forestry and how best the sector can serve the economic, social and environmental needs of our local communities and society in general. The biggest action to help meet these new aims will unquestionably be the development of a new national forestry programme. I am committed to the development of an ambitious new programme and to start the discussion on this in the autumn. This will require full stakeholder engagement and I look forward to working with you all on this.
Goals
Setting the high-level goals will be the first priority when we sit down to shape the new programme, but at the very least it must:
Increase forest cover in line with a new Climate Action Plan – at least 8,000ha per year. Continue to focus on delivering environmental benefits, including for example, enhancing water quality, habitat creation and climate adaption measures. Place greater emphasis on species diversity, particularly native species.Ensure that farmers are central to the delivery of the next programme by recognising and incentivising livestock and forestry co-existing on the same farm.Be central to the development of our rural economy through the provision of related jobs and businesses.We must also review the current programme and examine what worked and what did not. We should aim to build on the positives of the current programme, where relevant – for example, by further incentivising continuous cover forestry on suitable sites or a greater rollout of forestry knowledge transfer schemes for farmers. Equally, we must not shy away from critically analysing ideas that have not been successful.
It is very clear that this new programme cannot be delivered in isolation from other national policies, and better integration between the next forestry programme and the next CAP is a good example of this. If we are to meet our afforestation targets, then we must think of combining woodland creation with farming. It should not be thought of as either farming or forestry, and it must deliver a return for the farmer in a way that complements and enhances the farming enterprise. Future woodland creation on farms must strike a more even balance between ecosystem service delivery and timber production. This can be achieved by increasing support for multifunctional forest types, characterised by mixed forests, native woodlands and continuous cover plantations.
Agroforestry, for example, will allow farming to continue on land also planted with trees. Shelterbelts will enhance animal welfare while also increasing grass growth – planting tree species rich in nectar and pollen will support pollinators. Riparian planting can protect our rivers and streams from surface runoff, and also slow the flow of water, reducing the risk of flooding downstream. Such options will introduce a greater level of ecosystem service delivery. Forestry can deliver all of this and more.
We hear a lot about planting “the right tree in the right place”, and this will certainly be an important feature in the next forestry programme. Forestry has received a lot of bad press of late – sometimes this is justified and sometimes it is not, but what is important is that we build a robust future for forestry, one that unites communities, not divides, and one that delivers quality timber, rural jobs and an alternative income stream for farmers, as well as delivering on ambitions for climate action, biodiversity, and water quality. I look forward to working with all stakeholders in shaping this future.
As a farmer myself, I know very well the highs and lows of farming life. I farm beef and sheep with my husband Mark in Co Offaly and about 15ac of our land is planted with trees. I also know the factors that influenced our decision to plant. For us, it came down to the twin benefits of making a positive contribution to the environment and diversifying the farm income. After our experience, I would have no hesitation in encouraging other livestock farmers to consider the combined farm-forestry model.
I now have a different role as minister with responsibility for forestry, and I am hugely excited to shape the opportunity that Irish forestry offers to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of our country. The programme for government is ambitious for the sector, and I’m determined to work with all stakeholders to achieve this ambition. My commitment, and that of the Government, to the advancement of Irish forestry is unequivocal.
Challenges
The forestry sector has been experiencing its fair share of challenges in recent times, not least the ongoing difficulties with issuing licences for afforestation, roads and felling. I am acutely aware of these issues and my first and most pressing priority is to ensure that we have an efficient and functioning licensing system. The reasons for the delays in issuing licences are well documented at this stage, and require the most fundamental changes to our licensing system in its history. This has been a huge task and I completely understand the frustrations of applicants awaiting licences.
My department has invested heavily in resources and set ourselves challenging output targets to speed up the processing of licences. If you have a licence application, please bear with us and be assured that everything possible is being done to process it.
My immediate priority is to reform the legislation underpinning the forestry appeals system and align it with best practice in other licensing and appeals processes. I published a detailed bill on this last month, and my department is currently working through the almost 8,000 submissions received. The Government is committed to progressing this bill as quickly as possible, and you can expect to see significant progress in the coming weeks.
Notwithstanding current difficulties, we must also look towards the future of forestry and how best the sector can serve the economic, social and environmental needs of our local communities and society in general. The biggest action to help meet these new aims will unquestionably be the development of a new national forestry programme. I am committed to the development of an ambitious new programme and to start the discussion on this in the autumn. This will require full stakeholder engagement and I look forward to working with you all on this.
Goals
Setting the high-level goals will be the first priority when we sit down to shape the new programme, but at the very least it must:
Increase forest cover in line with a new Climate Action Plan – at least 8,000ha per year. Continue to focus on delivering environmental benefits, including for example, enhancing water quality, habitat creation and climate adaption measures. Place greater emphasis on species diversity, particularly native species.Ensure that farmers are central to the delivery of the next programme by recognising and incentivising livestock and forestry co-existing on the same farm.Be central to the development of our rural economy through the provision of related jobs and businesses.We must also review the current programme and examine what worked and what did not. We should aim to build on the positives of the current programme, where relevant – for example, by further incentivising continuous cover forestry on suitable sites or a greater rollout of forestry knowledge transfer schemes for farmers. Equally, we must not shy away from critically analysing ideas that have not been successful.
It is very clear that this new programme cannot be delivered in isolation from other national policies, and better integration between the next forestry programme and the next CAP is a good example of this. If we are to meet our afforestation targets, then we must think of combining woodland creation with farming. It should not be thought of as either farming or forestry, and it must deliver a return for the farmer in a way that complements and enhances the farming enterprise. Future woodland creation on farms must strike a more even balance between ecosystem service delivery and timber production. This can be achieved by increasing support for multifunctional forest types, characterised by mixed forests, native woodlands and continuous cover plantations.
Agroforestry, for example, will allow farming to continue on land also planted with trees. Shelterbelts will enhance animal welfare while also increasing grass growth – planting tree species rich in nectar and pollen will support pollinators. Riparian planting can protect our rivers and streams from surface runoff, and also slow the flow of water, reducing the risk of flooding downstream. Such options will introduce a greater level of ecosystem service delivery. Forestry can deliver all of this and more.
We hear a lot about planting “the right tree in the right place”, and this will certainly be an important feature in the next forestry programme. Forestry has received a lot of bad press of late – sometimes this is justified and sometimes it is not, but what is important is that we build a robust future for forestry, one that unites communities, not divides, and one that delivers quality timber, rural jobs and an alternative income stream for farmers, as well as delivering on ambitions for climate action, biodiversity, and water quality. I look forward to working with all stakeholders in shaping this future.
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