In the early years after Independence, virtually no afforestation was undertaken in Ireland. Public funds were in scarce supply and subsistence farming was still prevalent in much of the country, and that pattern more or less continued for the next two decades because, as one government minister stated some time later, putting trees in the ground would not put more food on the table.
Years after the second World War, it dawned on the Government how dwindled timber stocks and forests had become, and despite considerable pressure being exerted within government not to support afforestation, a defined forest policy was established and actively promoted. However, as before, only poorer quality land could be afforded for planting. Until the mid-’80s, afforestation progressed, occasionally reaching an additional 9,000 hectares annually, and it was undertaken almost exclusively by the State.
Even as public afforestation was gaining a foothold, private planting was minimal, having a negative image and receiving little or no State support.
Then in the mid-’80s forestry was identified as having the potential to make a major contribution to national economic and regional development and rural incomes, and generous grants and annual premiums were provided by the State and EU.
Subsequently, afforestation trebled between 1987 and 1995, with private planting exceeding public planting for the first time in 1989.
Planting held up reasonably well in the decade after 1995, at an average of 13,000 hectares each year, but levels of planting have largely gone downhill ever since. In the past decade, new planting has averaged 3,800 hectares annually.
Afforestation in 2023 and 2024 was at its lowest level since the 1920s. Over the past 40 years a succession of ambitious planting targets were established, but all were missed by a wide margin.
The surge in private planting from the late ’80s would initially have occurred on the least intensively farmed land. Thereafter, it would have moved on to progressively better land. That would partially explain the very high planting early on.
While there are possibly many reasons for the general downward trend in planting since the mid-’90s, it began with the changed character of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (Cap).
Cap shifted from price and market supports to restrictive measures on output, strengthening rural development and environmental policies and direct payments.
[ Does Ireland have the will to undo the disaster of plantation forestry?Opens in new window ]
The pattern of land use is now facing substantial pushback due to environmental pressures, and in consequence we have reached if not surpassed peak intensity in grassland utilisation. From here, there will be increased pressure on land use due to enterprises such as anaerobic digestion, while sectors such as solar panels and onshore wind turbines are also likely to show significant development.
The Cap Strategic Plan 2023-2027 also includes two heavily funded environmental measures heralding a new era addressing biodiversity, environmental issues, water quality and climate objectives, and increasingly offering rewards for alternative land uses that were not hitherto available. These schemes have attracted a high rate of participation from farmers and pose a real challenge for forestry.
Afforestation is the most significant climate change mitigation option that is available to Ireland’s land use sector, and is an essential and recognised factor to reaching net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
The rate of afforestation depends not only on the incentives available but also on such factors as awareness levels, promotion activities and technical support systems
So, from a future perspective, any increase in forestry planting is most likely to come from the cohort of 80,000 or so beef cattle enterprises. The great majority of those involved have the lowest incomes, are older than average, at least half of them have off-farm jobs and they have lesser levels of contact with support services.
The replacement of beef farming with forestry is a win-win action. It increases farm income, reduces GHG emissions, and significantly increases carbon sequestration. There also tends to be a prevalent negative attitude to forestry from this group, ranging from perceptions that forestry is inimical to agricultural development, to it being responsible for rural depopulation, social isolation and the limiting of land-use options.
Consideration must now focus on the shape of and ambition for the next Irish afforestation programme. It is now Government policy to expand forest cover from the current 11 per cent or so of the land area of the country to 18 per cent, but based on achievements over recent decades we will be waiting a long time to reach this target.
[ ‘Our purpose is to manage the State’s forests on behalf of the people of Ireland’Opens in new window ]
The rate of afforestation depends not only on the incentives available but also on such factors as awareness levels, promotion activities and technical support systems. At a policy level, it is necessary to adopt an integrated approach in designing land-use schemes including forestry so as to achieve compatibility and complementability between the respective measures in the next national Rural Development Programme.
The role of forestry needs to be more strongly promoted across Government, and the sector’s role in adjusting to climate change and in terms of rural development given greater emphasis. The development of knowledge transfer groups representative of the relevant stakeholders or perhaps some form of European Innovation Partnerships could play a useful role in changing attitudes towards forestry. Meanwhile, every effort must be made to reach out to those particular landholders who are the most likely target category for forestry but who are the least likely to have contact with farm support services.
Finally, it could be an opportune time to establish a national forum of the respective interests such as existed in the mid-’90s, to identify the factors impeding more rapid adoption of farm forestry and how these might be addressed.
Brendan Kearney, an economic consultant, was formerly assistant director of An Foras Talúntais, now Teagasc