The Department of Agriculture has undertaken to prioritise felling-licence appeals involving windblown plantations.

Five of the 72 felling licences issued for forests seriously damaged by storms Éowyn and Darragh have been appealed, the Department has confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal.

A felling licence approved in 2024, which the Department was subsequently informed contained storm-damaged area, has also been appealed.

The issue of appeals for damaged plantations was raised at a recent meeting of the Forest Windblow Taskforce, with farmer representatives raising serious concerns regarding the matter.

The development has compounded the difficulties facing plantation owners, as appeals to the Forestry Appeals Committee generally take between five and 14 months.

Forestry groups have warned that the delays associated with felling licence appeals could seriously impact the quality and value of the windblown timber. Fallen timber must be harvested within 18 months of being knocked to ensure any return from the market, experts have claimed.

Up to 26,000ha of forestry was devastated by storms Éowyn and Darragh, with 11m cubic metres of timber levelled. This equates to 2.5 times Ireland’s annual timber harvest.

The felling licence appeals relating to windblown forests, some of which were lodged by the Save Leitrim group, cite a range of factors including “inadequate and ineffective public notice” in contravention of the Aarhus Convention.

Worryingly, some appeals have challenged the conditions around replanting, and also questioned the validity of ecological reports which were carried out prior to the storms, on the grounds that conditions have radically changed due to windblow.

Forestry sector representatives have called on the Department and the Minister for State, Michael Healy-Rae, to remove the felling-licence requirement for windblown plantations.