Midterm review of Forestry Programme to take place - minister
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, stated that a midterm review of the Forestry Programme will take place in 2025.
The Minister was responding to a parliamentary question from Dublin Bay North independent TD Barry Heneghan about the current status of the curlew conservation programme.
The Minister said: "I am undertaking a midterm review of the Forestry Programme this year, conducted in consultation with stakeholders.
"I am acutely aware of the need to increase our levels of afforestation, but I am also conscious that any balance in this area must be achieved in a legally compliant, environmentally sustainable, and silviculturally appropriate manner. "
The programme, which has been in place since 2017, involves locally based teams of advisors, community engagement, and nest protection officers, working closely with landowners and other local interests, to protect curlew nesting attempts and to improve habitat quality.
The Minister stated: "The restrictions regarding breeding curlew entail the exclusion of afforestation anywhere within a 1.5km radius buffer created around individual breeding sites, as identified by the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS)."
Nationwide, this accounts for 138,444ha. This restriction applies equally to all forest types (FTs) available for support under the Afforestation Scheme.
The aim of the scheme is to increase Ireland’s forest cover from 11% to 18% by 2027 to help counteract climate change.
"There is no difference between the native woodland-related FTs and the more commercially-orientated FT11 [mixed high forests], involving conifers with a 20% broadleaf content.
"It is important to note that these buffers often include land that would not be eligible for afforestation for reasons other than curlew, land that does not meet the requirements regarding soil type and fertility."
Regarding the balance between afforestation and conservation, Minister Heydon said that Ireland's Forestry Programme 2023-2027 is subject to state aid approval obtained from the European Commission.
This approval contains a commitment that any afforestation under the programme “will be avoided on environmentally unsuitable sites. Afforestation will be adapted to environmental sensitivities, such as habitats and species."
The Minister said that to adopt the requirements of threatened bird species including the curlew, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine had balanced the need to fully align the licence application and assessment process for afforestation with both environmental legislation, and the state aid conditions underpinning the Forestry Programme.
Minister Heydon added that Ireland's curlew breeding population had experienced a dramatic decline in recent decades.
The curlew population has declined by 98% since the early 1990s according to the NPWS.
