By global standards, the EU has sufficient forest cover to meet environmental and economic targets. According to Eurostat, the EU has 39% forest cover, equivalent to “an estimated 159 million ha of forests”, which represents an increase of “almost 10% since 1990”.

The EU average is high because 19 Member States have at least 30% forest cover as Nordic countries lead the way with over 55% of their landmass under forests. Ireland, at 11.5% forest cover, lies in the bottom four countries with 15% or less, alongside Denmark (15%), the Netherlands (11%) and Malta (1%). Denmark and the Netherlands like Ireland are making efforts to increase forest cover.

The Netherlands’ target to increase forest cover by 10% has proved challenging for such a small country – less than half the size of the island of Ireland – and a population of 18.4 million.

Land availability is a major challenge so it’s no surprise that the afforestation programme is opposed by the Dutch Federation of Agriculture and Horticulture.

There are greater similarities between Ireland and Denmark in meeting their respective afforestation programmes. At 43,000km2, Denmark is marginally larger than the Netherlands but has a much smaller population (6.2 million) and a strong agriculture sector.

Ireland’s future afforestation programme also has similarities with Denmark’s. Ireland’s 2019 Climate Action Plan (ICAP) set a target of 17% forest cover (approximately 400,000ha) by mid-century while Denmark plans to convert a similar area – but 10% of its land – to nature and forest by 2045.

There is one major difference between Ireland and Denmark. The Danes are deadly serious about achieving their targets.

They are working with agriculture to incentivise farmers, landowners and communities to switch land use, which they did during their major wind farm expansion. There is little evidence of this approach in Ireland.

While the 2019 ICAP set an afforestation target of 400,000ha by mid-century, at recent planting rates, Ireland is likely to achieve a total planting programme of little more than 50,000ha during this period.

Targets

So how will Denmark achieve their enormous planting targets? Unlike Ireland, the Danes feature forestry in their CAP negotiations – Irish forestry is funded by the exchequer and hasn’t featured in CAP negotiations for decades.

Last August the European Commission approved, under EU State aid rules, a €626 million Danish scheme for afforestation after Denmark notified the Commission of its plans to support landowners to convert agricultural land into forests.

“The measure will contribute to achieving the objectives of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy by strengthening environmental protection and contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation,” according to the EC.

“The scheme will cover the costs of planting forests on agricultural land, the costs of forest maintenance and the costs of foregone agricultural income. Additional compensation is also provided in the case of forest becoming ‘untouched forest’ for the additional restrictions imposed on the land,” maintained the EC.

“The scheme forms part of the Danish political agreement on the implementation of a green Denmark, which foresees the conversion of approximately 10% of Denmark’s total land area into nature and forest by 2045.”

The Danes had done their homework before applying for EU aid. In November 2024, the country signed a tripartite agreement between the government, the Danish Society for Nature Conservation and the Danish Agricultural and Food Council (DAFC) with buy-in from several other organisations.

A key aspect of the agreement involved “converting agricultural land into nature” including 250,000ha of new forests and transforming 140,000 hectares of low-lying farmland into natural landscapes. In tandem with this, the Danes introduced the world’s first climate tax on agriculture and plans to reduce nitrogen emissions by 13,780 tonnes.

In achieving EU funding the Danes were conscious they were threading a fine line with the Commission’s State Aid rules. In this regard, the Commission stated: “The aid is proportionate, as it is limited to the minimum necessary and will have a limited impact on competition and trade between member states. The aid brings about positive effects that outweigh any potential distortion of competition and trade in the EU. On this basis, the Commission approved the Danish scheme under EU state aid rules.”

So, should Ireland include forestry in its CAP negotiations? Both the Danish and Dutch programmes place major emphasis on environmental and climate change benefits and there is little by way of support for a strong indigenous productive forestry and forest products sector which may suit their economies.

This may not suit Ireland as a strong home-grown commercial softwood resource is a prerequisite for a construction and energy sector in displacing fossil based material and mitigating climate change.

However, keeping forestry outside CAP is likely to result in a continuation of the current low afforestation programmes with its abysmal planting programmes of both commercial and non-commercial species.

Maybe, it’s time for a rethink. It is interesting to note that the Danish Ministry of the Green Tripartite – established in 2024 – and not the DAFC, is responsible for driving efforts to decarbonise Denmark’s agricultural sector and ensuring the initiatives outlined in the Green Tripartite are fully implemented.

Glennon Brothers Ltd acquires Welsh-based Pontrilas Group

Two well-established timber processors in Ireland and the UK joined forces recently as Glennon Brothers Ltd (GBL) acquired the Pontrilas Group, based in south Wales.

The acquisition of Pontrilas makes sense as it is “strategically situated on the Welsh border and is one of the UK’s leading independent sawmill and packaging businesses,” said GBL’s joint MD, Mike Glennon.

The acquisition means that GBL will add a team of over 530 people to its workforce, which takes its direct job creation to over 1,000 in addition to hundreds of jobs created indirectly in harvesting, haulage and services.

“Founded in 1947 by the Hickman family, the Pontrilas Group is a well invested family-owned timber processing business, with a turnover of £120m,” said Pat Glennon.

There is a symbolic connection with the early years of the Longford sawmill, which processed hardwoods before softwoods became its sole timber source.

The Pontrilas Group processes hardwoods – mainly beech and oak – for niche construction and furniture markets.