Protecting existing native woodlands on and near public lands could hold the key to Ireland meeting its ambitious targets under the Nature Restoration Law (NRL), a new report from the Irish Environmental Network (IEN) has claimed.

A project undertaken by IEN has identified 27,452ha of native woodland, of which 12,928ha is on public land and 7,271ha is within 200m of public land.

Additionally, the project has identified a further 194,230ha of public lands adjacent to native woodlands.

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While the Restore Nature: Native Woodlands report accepted that not all public lands identified will be suitable for woodland restoration, it highlighted the "immense potential" for public lands to support the ambitious native woodland reestablishment programme required to meet the law's targets.

Best potential

Lands managed by Coillte and the National Parks and Wildlife Service offer the best potential for native woodland restoration, the report maintained.

Ireland has targets to reestablish some 10,000ha of sessile oak woodland by 2030, as well as 4,000ha of alluvial woodlands under the NRL.

There are currently around 6,500ha of native woodlands designated as special areas of conservation (SAC). This includes areas of old sessile oak, alluvial woodlands, bog woodlands and yew woodlands.

The IEN project used geographic information system (GIS) analysis to map the most important native woodlands and highlight opportunities to expand and reconnect existing fragmented remnants.

It identified 29 native woodland clusters nationwide, 14 of which are prioritised because of their scale, ecological value and potential for expansion on public land.

These include iconic sites such as Killarney National Park, Glendalough, Clara Vale and the Avoca Valley in Wicklow, and Glengarriff Woods in west Cork.

“This project identifies opportunities to deliver ambitious nature restoration by identifying the most important native woodlands in the country and where the opportunities are to expand and reconnect them,” explained Fintan Kelly of IEN.

“By linking ecological data with land ownership, the project clearly maps out where the low-hanging fruit is for ambitious native woodland restoration using public land,” he added.