The importance of a sustained forestry education and promotion programme is essential to reach an audience with little or no knowledge of the subject.
While most of the 24,200 forest owners in Ireland are farmers, the potential farm audience is 127,000 farmers, many of whom are still unaware that grant aid is available for planting as little as 0.1ha in the Native Tree Area (NTA) scheme.
The lack of forestry knowledge even applies to forest owners who should be knowledgeable on issues such as licences, supports and general forest management issues. For example, a few weeks after storm Éowyn, Minister Healy-Rae and others announced that forest owners could go ahead and remove all their windblown trees if they have a felling licence regardless of its status – clearfell or thinning. Yet, some forest owners with thinning licences were still asking months after the storm if the they needed to apply for separate clearfelling licences.
Many potential forest owners are also unaware of the economic and environment advantages of sustainable forestry and the level of supports provided. For example, converting 10ha of marginal land to forestry – little more than quarter the annual farm size – will receive almost €300,000 in supports comprising €€228,400 in tax-free premiums over a 20-year period on top of a €67,400 grant to cover the cost of planting, fencing, ground preparation and other establishment costs.
Good forestry promotion presents a balanced picture where the monetary and environment advantages are weighed up against challenges such as agreeing to the replanting obligation and allowing at least 35% of the new forest area to comprise open biodiverse unplanted areas along with long rotation broadleaves.
There should be no surprises when opting for forestry as a land use option and promotion should reflect this.
Promotional programme
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) acknowledges the need for a continuous balanced forestry promotion and information programme.
DAFM’s open call for proposals for forestry promotion projects since 2023 are designed to fund organisations to continuously promote forestry. Currently, 50 projects are proceeding to provide promotion and information on a wide range of forestry issues to a wide audience.
The programme is designed “to encourage farmers and other land owners to plant and to raise the profile of forestry as a public good and a commercially viable enterprise”.
There is some evidence that this programme is succeeding as afforestation is well up at the moment from an admittedly low base. This promotion needs to be sustained at local and national level and this is now taking place.
Despite the low planting figures and the devastation caused by storm Éowyn, there is a more confident air in the sector, not least by the hands-on approach of Minister Healy-Rae.
Agroforestry field day
This will be in evidence at this year’s Ploughing and also at the Woodland Show in Kilkea Castle, Castledermot on 4 and 5 October. On 24 October, Western Forestry Co-op and the Irish Timber Growers Association are organising a field day on harvesting and selling timber in windblown forests in the Collooney area Co Sligo, while an agroforestry field day is scheduled for Raheen Woods Hotel, Athenry on 13 November, hosted by the Irish Agroforestry Forum.
Forestry at the Ploughing
We will provide further information on the Castledermot, Sligo and Gort events over the coming weeks but in this issue we highlight the Social, Economic, Environmental Forestry Association (SEEFA) forestry hub at the Ploughing.
Padraig Egan, SEEFA chair.
This event is likely to receive large support not just because of the huge audience attracted to the Ploughing in the first case but also because Padraig Egan and the SEEFA team have identified key areas for discussion and promotion.
Topics include the urgent need to increase afforestation and wood use in construction as well as issues such as tree species selection, grant aid, forestry licences, biodiversity, agroforestry and harvesting challenges in a post storm Éowyn environment.
Foresters, forest owners and other forestry stakeholders will be joined by Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae, Ivan Yates and Michael Duignan at a major forestry promotion event over three days at next week’s Ploughing.
“The hub will provide a space for visitors to learn about forestry, meet top industry professionals, and engage in informed discussions on topics relevant to the forestry and forest products sector in Ireland,” said Padraig Egan, chair of SEEFA (inset), which is hosting the hub.
“This event shows that the current administration is making sure the private forestry sector has a real voice,” he added.
Egan acknowledged the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) for supporting the hub which “is designed to be a practical drop-in point for information and one-to-one conversations, with forestry experts on hand to advise on planting and forest management,” he said.
Panel discussions will be led by forestry enthusiasts Michael Duignan, chair of Offaly GAA County Board and Ivan Yates, broadcaster and entrepreneur and former Minister for Agriculture Food and Forestry. Panel speakers will concentrate on key subjects over the three days as follows:
Tuesday – subjects covered include the role of forests as a land use and climate change mitigation option. Michael Healy-Rae will launch the event and take part in the panel discussion. Wednesday: the main topics are planting for biodiversity and challenges for Irish forestry after Storm Éowyn.Thursday: bridging fields through agroforestry, Ireland’s “Timber First” policy and forest certification will be discussed. “This event is a great way to connect with people on forestry, whether they already manage a forest, are exploring their first planting, or are still not engaged with the sector,” said SEEFA member Paddy Bruton.
“SEEFA looks forward to welcoming farmers, industry groups, the media and the wider forestry community to the forestry hub,” said Teige Ryan, former SEEFA chair.
“Promotion of the industry is more critical now than ever, and this event is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the many benefits of forestry in rural Ireland.”
The SEEFA forestry hub is located at Row 5, Block 5, Stand 133.
Audience space for panel discussion is limited, so early arrival is encouraged. Final times and the full line-up will be shared on SEEFA channels before the event.
The importance of a sustained forestry education and promotion programme is essential to reach an audience with little or no knowledge of the subject.
While most of the 24,200 forest owners in Ireland are farmers, the potential farm audience is 127,000 farmers, many of whom are still unaware that grant aid is available for planting as little as 0.1ha in the Native Tree Area (NTA) scheme.
The lack of forestry knowledge even applies to forest owners who should be knowledgeable on issues such as licences, supports and general forest management issues. For example, a few weeks after storm Éowyn, Minister Healy-Rae and others announced that forest owners could go ahead and remove all their windblown trees if they have a felling licence regardless of its status – clearfell or thinning. Yet, some forest owners with thinning licences were still asking months after the storm if the they needed to apply for separate clearfelling licences.
Many potential forest owners are also unaware of the economic and environment advantages of sustainable forestry and the level of supports provided. For example, converting 10ha of marginal land to forestry – little more than quarter the annual farm size – will receive almost €300,000 in supports comprising €€228,400 in tax-free premiums over a 20-year period on top of a €67,400 grant to cover the cost of planting, fencing, ground preparation and other establishment costs.
Good forestry promotion presents a balanced picture where the monetary and environment advantages are weighed up against challenges such as agreeing to the replanting obligation and allowing at least 35% of the new forest area to comprise open biodiverse unplanted areas along with long rotation broadleaves.
There should be no surprises when opting for forestry as a land use option and promotion should reflect this.
Promotional programme
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) acknowledges the need for a continuous balanced forestry promotion and information programme.
DAFM’s open call for proposals for forestry promotion projects since 2023 are designed to fund organisations to continuously promote forestry. Currently, 50 projects are proceeding to provide promotion and information on a wide range of forestry issues to a wide audience.
The programme is designed “to encourage farmers and other land owners to plant and to raise the profile of forestry as a public good and a commercially viable enterprise”.
There is some evidence that this programme is succeeding as afforestation is well up at the moment from an admittedly low base. This promotion needs to be sustained at local and national level and this is now taking place.
Despite the low planting figures and the devastation caused by storm Éowyn, there is a more confident air in the sector, not least by the hands-on approach of Minister Healy-Rae.
Agroforestry field day
This will be in evidence at this year’s Ploughing and also at the Woodland Show in Kilkea Castle, Castledermot on 4 and 5 October. On 24 October, Western Forestry Co-op and the Irish Timber Growers Association are organising a field day on harvesting and selling timber in windblown forests in the Collooney area Co Sligo, while an agroforestry field day is scheduled for Raheen Woods Hotel, Athenry on 13 November, hosted by the Irish Agroforestry Forum.
Forestry at the Ploughing
We will provide further information on the Castledermot, Sligo and Gort events over the coming weeks but in this issue we highlight the Social, Economic, Environmental Forestry Association (SEEFA) forestry hub at the Ploughing.
Padraig Egan, SEEFA chair.
This event is likely to receive large support not just because of the huge audience attracted to the Ploughing in the first case but also because Padraig Egan and the SEEFA team have identified key areas for discussion and promotion.
Topics include the urgent need to increase afforestation and wood use in construction as well as issues such as tree species selection, grant aid, forestry licences, biodiversity, agroforestry and harvesting challenges in a post storm Éowyn environment.
Foresters, forest owners and other forestry stakeholders will be joined by Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae, Ivan Yates and Michael Duignan at a major forestry promotion event over three days at next week’s Ploughing.
“The hub will provide a space for visitors to learn about forestry, meet top industry professionals, and engage in informed discussions on topics relevant to the forestry and forest products sector in Ireland,” said Padraig Egan, chair of SEEFA (inset), which is hosting the hub.
“This event shows that the current administration is making sure the private forestry sector has a real voice,” he added.
Egan acknowledged the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) for supporting the hub which “is designed to be a practical drop-in point for information and one-to-one conversations, with forestry experts on hand to advise on planting and forest management,” he said.
Panel discussions will be led by forestry enthusiasts Michael Duignan, chair of Offaly GAA County Board and Ivan Yates, broadcaster and entrepreneur and former Minister for Agriculture Food and Forestry. Panel speakers will concentrate on key subjects over the three days as follows:
Tuesday – subjects covered include the role of forests as a land use and climate change mitigation option. Michael Healy-Rae will launch the event and take part in the panel discussion. Wednesday: the main topics are planting for biodiversity and challenges for Irish forestry after Storm Éowyn.Thursday: bridging fields through agroforestry, Ireland’s “Timber First” policy and forest certification will be discussed. “This event is a great way to connect with people on forestry, whether they already manage a forest, are exploring their first planting, or are still not engaged with the sector,” said SEEFA member Paddy Bruton.
“SEEFA looks forward to welcoming farmers, industry groups, the media and the wider forestry community to the forestry hub,” said Teige Ryan, former SEEFA chair.
“Promotion of the industry is more critical now than ever, and this event is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the many benefits of forestry in rural Ireland.”
The SEEFA forestry hub is located at Row 5, Block 5, Stand 133.
Audience space for panel discussion is limited, so early arrival is encouraged. Final times and the full line-up will be shared on SEEFA channels before the event.
SHARING OPTIONS