The State has invested €3bn in private forestry since the 1980s, which has been matched by the private sector – mainly farmers – in providing land and expertise. The benefits of this State-private partnership are now apparent as the private forest estate has increased from 121,000ha to 385,000ha over the past 30 years. Private forest cover is now 49% of the total forest estate in Ireland compared with 60% in the EU.
As over half of these forests are at, or reaching the production stage, the Irish taxpayer and the EU (which funded the first 20 years of the forestry programme) are entitled to ask: “are we achieving optimum wood and non-wood benefits for this investment.”
In relation to realising wood benefits, up until recently, a criticism of private forestry was the perceived lack of wood mobilisation and general forest activity.
The average annual log production from the private sector over the three-year period (2015 to 2017) was estimated at 613,000m3 based on data submitted to Eurostat by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
This is the best available data but it is likely to be underestimated as activity in privately owned forests has increased dramatically in recent years, which is reflected in:
Forest roading – applications and approvals for grant aid leading to forest road construction prior to harvesting.Felling licences – applications and approvals for felling licences, with resultant log sales and harvesting.Forest roading
Applications for roading grants are the first indication that forest owners intend to thin their plantations.
An average of 76km of forest roads have been approved annually over the past five years.
This year, grant approvals are ahead of these averages as close to 38km of forest roads have been approved already in the first five months, according to the May Forestry Division monthly report.
Over time, this data would provide a clearer picture of the area of the forest estate actively managed and harvested
This is positive news as so far this year, 298 road grant approvals have been issued from 327 applications.
A welcome addition to the road length data, provided in the monthly reports would be the area of forests serviced by these roads.
Over time, this data would provide a clearer picture of the area of the forest estate actively managed and harvested.
Felling licences
Felling licence applications and approvals are a reliable guide to forestry activity. The Forestry Division supplies data on total felling licence approvals, which is subdivided into Coillte and private forest approvals.
While there has been a delay in some approvals, the number of licences is still high, covering an area close to 40,000ha last year between thinning and clearfells – 20,920ha issued to Coillte and 18,924ha for private forest owners.
Good news
This is a good news story as the performance of the private sector has been encouraging in recent years.
Private forest owners were issued with clearfell licences for 12,600ha for the five-year period from 2014 to 2018 compared with 2,400 for the previous five years.
Thinning activity has also increased with 71,000ha of licences issued over the past five years compared with 60,000ha during the previous five years.
The private sector clearfell licences issued are behind Coillte as most forests have not reached final harvest, but thinning licence approvals were higher than Coillte for the first time in 2017 to 2018.
Comments have been made by stakeholders on Coillte’s higher licence approval success rate compared with the private sector and there are instances of inordinate delays in some approvals.
There are also fewer Coillte personnel submitting applications, so there is likely to be greater consistency in the application process
However, a DAFM spokesperson explained that the same criteria applies to both Coillte and private forest owners in granting licence approval.
Reasons advanced for the better performance by Coillte include economies of scale as the company’s timber sales are larger than private lots, so there are fewer individual applications per felling areas.
There are also fewer Coillte personnel submitting applications, so there is likely to be greater consistency in the application process.
All stakeholders interviewed regard the information provided by DAFM on afforestation, roading and felling licences as essential in assessing private sector performance.
Since May, the DAFM has combined private and Coillte data for felling licences, so that the performance of the private sector is now no longer available.
This decision has surprised forestry companies and organisations who have said that they were not consulted on this change to data availability.
It is vital that the performance of private growers is monitored and assessed
These include the IFA, the Irish Timber Growers Association, Veon Ltd, Forestry Services, Green Belt, Euroforest Ireland and the Association of Irish Forestry Consultants.
They hope that this decision may be temporary but if permanent “it is a retrograde step as this information is essential in assessing wood mobilisation for the sector”, said one forestry company spokesperson.
“It is vital that the performance of private growers is monitored and assessed as it is in the Overview of Wood Fibre Use in Ireland published by DAFM and other publications such as COFORD’s timber forecasts.”
Combining data means that access to information on private felling licences will only be available to the DAFM and – inadvertently – Coillte.
Pulpwood markets receive timely boost
Irish wood energy outlets combined with exports to UK board mills provide lucrative markets for small logs and encouragement to thin
Over the past year, there has been an increase in exports of small (pulpwood) logs – mainly from early thinnings – to the UK from ports throughout Ireland.
This has provided outlets for low-value timber, especially for forest owners in areas far removed from board mills, wood energy and other markets.
Some of these would have received prices as low as €3/m3 after long-distance road transport costs were absorbed.
Pulpwood is also being exported from Drogheda, Wicklow and Cork
These new markets are especially welcome for forest owners in the northwest who are sending logs to Sligo and Killybegs ports to be shipped to the UK for processing in board mills. Pulpwood is also being exported from Drogheda, Wicklow and Cork.
UK-oriented strandboard (OSB) mills are paying up to €40/t for logs delivered to these ports.
“This translates to around €12/m3 for growers,” said a spokesperson for one of the forestry companies involved.
Many of these ports are being transformed by this surge in timber trade. And it is not only confined to log exports as four Irish sawmills continue to import large sawlog material from Scotland.
With Brexit looming, it is difficult to predict the long-term viability of pulpwood exports
Accurate information is not available on log imports and exports but best estimates suggest that imports have fallen to 150,000m3, while exports are at least 100,000m3, which are mainly sourced from private forests.
With Brexit looming, it is difficult to predict the long-term viability of pulpwood exports but predictions for domestic market uptake are positive in the long term.
The recent launch of the new Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH) is likely to increase domestic demand for small logs.
In addition, the three board mills in Ireland will require a steady flow of either pulpwood or wood residue – sawdust and wood chips.
The advice to owners with young forests is to thin early and avail of these markets.
The State has invested €3bn in private forestry since the 1980s, which has been matched by the private sector – mainly farmers – in providing land and expertise. The benefits of this State-private partnership are now apparent as the private forest estate has increased from 121,000ha to 385,000ha over the past 30 years. Private forest cover is now 49% of the total forest estate in Ireland compared with 60% in the EU.
As over half of these forests are at, or reaching the production stage, the Irish taxpayer and the EU (which funded the first 20 years of the forestry programme) are entitled to ask: “are we achieving optimum wood and non-wood benefits for this investment.”
In relation to realising wood benefits, up until recently, a criticism of private forestry was the perceived lack of wood mobilisation and general forest activity.
The average annual log production from the private sector over the three-year period (2015 to 2017) was estimated at 613,000m3 based on data submitted to Eurostat by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
This is the best available data but it is likely to be underestimated as activity in privately owned forests has increased dramatically in recent years, which is reflected in:
Forest roading – applications and approvals for grant aid leading to forest road construction prior to harvesting.Felling licences – applications and approvals for felling licences, with resultant log sales and harvesting.Forest roading
Applications for roading grants are the first indication that forest owners intend to thin their plantations.
An average of 76km of forest roads have been approved annually over the past five years.
This year, grant approvals are ahead of these averages as close to 38km of forest roads have been approved already in the first five months, according to the May Forestry Division monthly report.
Over time, this data would provide a clearer picture of the area of the forest estate actively managed and harvested
This is positive news as so far this year, 298 road grant approvals have been issued from 327 applications.
A welcome addition to the road length data, provided in the monthly reports would be the area of forests serviced by these roads.
Over time, this data would provide a clearer picture of the area of the forest estate actively managed and harvested.
Felling licences
Felling licence applications and approvals are a reliable guide to forestry activity. The Forestry Division supplies data on total felling licence approvals, which is subdivided into Coillte and private forest approvals.
While there has been a delay in some approvals, the number of licences is still high, covering an area close to 40,000ha last year between thinning and clearfells – 20,920ha issued to Coillte and 18,924ha for private forest owners.
Good news
This is a good news story as the performance of the private sector has been encouraging in recent years.
Private forest owners were issued with clearfell licences for 12,600ha for the five-year period from 2014 to 2018 compared with 2,400 for the previous five years.
Thinning activity has also increased with 71,000ha of licences issued over the past five years compared with 60,000ha during the previous five years.
The private sector clearfell licences issued are behind Coillte as most forests have not reached final harvest, but thinning licence approvals were higher than Coillte for the first time in 2017 to 2018.
Comments have been made by stakeholders on Coillte’s higher licence approval success rate compared with the private sector and there are instances of inordinate delays in some approvals.
There are also fewer Coillte personnel submitting applications, so there is likely to be greater consistency in the application process
However, a DAFM spokesperson explained that the same criteria applies to both Coillte and private forest owners in granting licence approval.
Reasons advanced for the better performance by Coillte include economies of scale as the company’s timber sales are larger than private lots, so there are fewer individual applications per felling areas.
There are also fewer Coillte personnel submitting applications, so there is likely to be greater consistency in the application process.
All stakeholders interviewed regard the information provided by DAFM on afforestation, roading and felling licences as essential in assessing private sector performance.
Since May, the DAFM has combined private and Coillte data for felling licences, so that the performance of the private sector is now no longer available.
This decision has surprised forestry companies and organisations who have said that they were not consulted on this change to data availability.
It is vital that the performance of private growers is monitored and assessed
These include the IFA, the Irish Timber Growers Association, Veon Ltd, Forestry Services, Green Belt, Euroforest Ireland and the Association of Irish Forestry Consultants.
They hope that this decision may be temporary but if permanent “it is a retrograde step as this information is essential in assessing wood mobilisation for the sector”, said one forestry company spokesperson.
“It is vital that the performance of private growers is monitored and assessed as it is in the Overview of Wood Fibre Use in Ireland published by DAFM and other publications such as COFORD’s timber forecasts.”
Combining data means that access to information on private felling licences will only be available to the DAFM and – inadvertently – Coillte.
Pulpwood markets receive timely boost
Irish wood energy outlets combined with exports to UK board mills provide lucrative markets for small logs and encouragement to thin
Over the past year, there has been an increase in exports of small (pulpwood) logs – mainly from early thinnings – to the UK from ports throughout Ireland.
This has provided outlets for low-value timber, especially for forest owners in areas far removed from board mills, wood energy and other markets.
Some of these would have received prices as low as €3/m3 after long-distance road transport costs were absorbed.
Pulpwood is also being exported from Drogheda, Wicklow and Cork
These new markets are especially welcome for forest owners in the northwest who are sending logs to Sligo and Killybegs ports to be shipped to the UK for processing in board mills. Pulpwood is also being exported from Drogheda, Wicklow and Cork.
UK-oriented strandboard (OSB) mills are paying up to €40/t for logs delivered to these ports.
“This translates to around €12/m3 for growers,” said a spokesperson for one of the forestry companies involved.
Many of these ports are being transformed by this surge in timber trade. And it is not only confined to log exports as four Irish sawmills continue to import large sawlog material from Scotland.
With Brexit looming, it is difficult to predict the long-term viability of pulpwood exports
Accurate information is not available on log imports and exports but best estimates suggest that imports have fallen to 150,000m3, while exports are at least 100,000m3, which are mainly sourced from private forests.
With Brexit looming, it is difficult to predict the long-term viability of pulpwood exports but predictions for domestic market uptake are positive in the long term.
The recent launch of the new Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH) is likely to increase domestic demand for small logs.
In addition, the three board mills in Ireland will require a steady flow of either pulpwood or wood residue – sawdust and wood chips.
The advice to owners with young forests is to thin early and avail of these markets.
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