The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has issued an increased number (19) of afforestation licences in the week ending December 20.
This is the most amount of licences issued since September time, and the Social, Economic and Environmental Forestry Association of Ireland (SEEFA) said it is “one of the strongest weeks for afforestation licensing in years”.
The week accounted for 159ha planted, bringing the total figure for this year to 4,801ha, with 588 licences issued this year to date.
The figures for afforestation planted in 2024 reflect afforestation that has been paid at first grant stage this year to date only, including under the Native Area Tree Scheme (NTAS).
In addition to the planting licences, the DAFM has issued a total of 956 private felling licences, 1,007 Coillte felling licences, as well as 840 road licences year-to-date.
This includes 19 private felling licences, seven Coillte felling licences, and nine road licences issued in the last week.
The latest data shows that 731 licences have been granted this year for the Reconstitution of Ash Dieback Scheme relating to 2,565ha.
There has been 349 licences issued for the NTAS (4,081ha) and 183 for the Woodland Improvement Scheme (WIS) covering 1,010ha.
A total of 203 approvals have been granted under the Deer Tree Shelter (DTS) scheme corresponding to 866ha.
SEEFA stated that the figures this week are “undoubtedly a significant improvement”, but that there “is still considerable room for growth”.
“These figures once again call attention to the inconsistent licensing outputs we’ve seen throughout the year.
“If we want to trust in the department’s reliability, we need evidence of greater consistency rather than occasional strong weeks,” SEEFA stated.
The area planted this year remains far below the annual target of 8,000ha as set out in Ireland’s Climate Action Plan. In 2022 and 2023, 2,273ha and 1,652ha were planted respectively.