The new forestry programme, which will see farmers paid €1,103/ha to plant native trees on their land, is a massive vote of confidence in the future of the forest sector, according to director of Forestry Industry Ireland (FII) Mark McAuley.
The new forestry premiums are a huge step up from the old programme, he said.
"A farmer will now get over €220,000 for planting 10ha of native woodland, up from €100,000 under the last programme.
"For commercial forests, the new payments add up to nearly €150,000, up from €77,000," McAuley said.
The Government, he added, has realised that it needs to adequately incentivise tree planting because it is absolutely critical to our climate change targets.
The financial rewards are very attractive
"Forestry is by far the biggest measure to address agriculture emissions and give farmers new options.
"All the time we are growing our timber production, our valuable exports, and locking away carbon in our wood products.
“This new programme is a huge financial inducement for farmers to look again at the forestry option. The financial rewards are very attractive when you combine the much-increased Government payments with the very valuable timber that a farmer can produce," he said.
This new forestry programme can boost the country's afforestation levels back to where they should be and greatly increase the amount of forests being planted, McCauley added, which will create thousands of jobs in rural Ireland, as well as helping the climate and environment.
McCauley argued that the new programme is the ideal way to diversify farm enterprises, generate strong economic returns and take a very positive step forward for the environment.
SHARING OPTIONS