Farmers ‘at the heart’ of ambitious forestry programme

Incentives in the forestry programme are designed to attract and reward farmers, according to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the, Marine Charlie McConalogue.
Farmers are integral to future forestry plans as Coillte’s planting targets meet only 1% of national targets.

Minister McConalogue and Minister of State Pippa Hackett recently met with senior representatives of Coillte to discuss Coillte’s progress in developing and implementing its long-term strategic vision for 2050, which is focused on optimising Coillte’s contribution to Ireland’s climate action targets.

Coillte updated the Ministers on the implementation of its strategic vision and where this sits within the new farmer-focussed €1.3 billion Forestry Programme.

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A critical part of this strategy is how Coillte will contribute to the nation’s afforestation targets in line with Government policy.

Coillte outlined to the Ministers its intention that the Irish Strategic Forestry Fund will plant an average of 700 hectares of new forests across each of the next five years, and how the total area of new forests planted through the fund will deliver roughly 3.5% of the 100,000 hectares of new forests Coillte has committed to enabling by 2050.

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Of the State’s overall national target of 450,000 hectares of new forests by 2050, the fund will plant less than 1% of that total.

“Farmers will be central to the success of our overall forestry strategy. The Government has been clear in its policy direction through the design of the Forestry Programme and the Climate Action Plan that farmers will have the biggest opportunity to deliver on our forestry targets, and to benefit from our forestry payments,” Minister McConalogue said.

“We have put a funding package of €1.3 billion in place for the next Forestry Programme, and the incentives under the Programme are designed to attract and reward farmers ahead of any other landowners.

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“Farmers are at the heart of this ambitious and well-funded Programme. In addition to single farm payments on afforested land, which other landowners will not receive, farmers will be paid 20 years of premium under the new Programme, compared to other landowners who will receive 15 years of payments.”