33 forestry licences issued by DAFM last week
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) issued a total of 33 forestry licences last week, including four for afforestation.
This marks an increase on the 25 licences granted by the department in the previous week.
The latest forestry dashboard, published by the department, shows that 14 of the licences issued last week related to private felling, with three Coillte felling licences issued.
Up to May 16, DAFM had issued a total of 340 private felling licences and 116 Coillte felling licences for a total of 5,724ha.
The department has received 431 private felling and 173 Coillte felling licences applications so far this year.
The department issued four afforestation licences last week, down from six in the previous week.
This brings the total afforestation licences granted this year by DAFM to 193 relating to 1,508ha.
DAFM said that 1,146ha has been planted in so far in 2025. This figure reflects afforestation that has been paid at first grant stage this year to date only, including the Native Area Tree Scheme (NTAS).
12 of the licences granted last week were for forestry roads, bringing the total number of these licences issued in 2025 to 239 covering 82km. There has been 40km of roads constructed this year.
The Social, Economic, and Environmental Forestry Association of Ireland (SEEFA) said that last week's performance "comes on the back of a low spell for licensing, with the previous 5 weeks all well below expectations".
"Periods like this make it clear that the current forestry programme has issues. Not enough hectares are being licensed or planted, and many schemes are not hitting their full potential.
"Earlier this year, SEEFA submitted input for the programme's mid-term review, and we hope to see some changes made to increase activity in DAFM and on the ground," the association said.
The latest department data also shows that 163 licences have been issued by the department so far this year for the Reconstitution of Ash Dieback Scheme, relating to 543ha.
111 licences have been approved for the NTAS (123ha), 27 for the Woodland Improvement Scheme (159ha) and 55 for the Deer Tree Shelter scheme (2237ha).
14 licences have been issued for the Climate Resilient Reforestation Scheme covering 84ha.
Two licences have been issued for the Native Woodland Conservation Scheme this year for 17ha.
The department has received 21 appeals relating to afforestation so far this year, 10 on forest roads and eight on tree felling.
