Public Consultation on a Shared National Vision for the role of trees and forests in Ireland’s future and in developing a new Forest Strategy

All citizens, private organisations, public authorities, and academic institutions are welcome to contribute to this consultation.

From 16.03.2022 to 27.04.2022

Please note that we cannot take account of replies received after the deadline.

Trees are a vital part of Ireland’s natural heritage. Ireland needs more of them, with the right trees planted in the right places for the right reasons. For a variety of historical reasons, Ireland has one of the lowest levels of forest cover in the European Union. Paradoxically, this means that Ireland has a special opportunity to improve its natural heritage, by investing in afforestation in a way that is sensitive to its landscape and environment, and that allows citizens to benefit from the unique range of public and private goods offered by it.

Afforestation, well planned and executed, can make a significant contribution to Ireland’s climate change mitigation efforts, can enhance biodiversity, improve water quality, provide shade and shelter for farmed animals and amenity opportunities for citizens. Harvested wood products are also essential for climate mitigation. Together they also support economic development and employment creation in rural areas and provide alternatives for fossil fuel-based materials in construction and energy generation. To maximise this opportunity, Ireland needs a coherent and broadly accepted Vision and Strategy for the development of its forestry sector.

Your input to this public consultation process will be a crucially important contribution to realising a shared national vision for the role of trees and forests in Ireland’s future and a new Forest Strategy to implement this Vision. We would like to hear your informed opinions and views on what you see as the role of trees and forests of all shapes and sizes in Ireland’s future.

You are invited to complete an online questionnaire, that can be accessed here.

On completing the questionnaire there will be an opportunity to provide additional information on the shared vision and forest strategy development, should you wish to do so.

The relevant documents below may assist you when looking for further information.

• Other useful links

DAFM Forest Statistics and Mapping

EU Forest Strategy

The information provided by respondents will be used to inform the final Shared National Vision for Trees and Forests in Ireland and in the development of a new Forest Strategy.

Received contributions will be published on the Department website after the closing date.

Terms and conditions

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is collecting this data to help create a new shared vision for trees and forests in Ireland and in support of the development of the new Forest Strategy. All submissions, including the name of the person or organisation making the submission, may be shared with our external consultants who are coordinating this public consultation process. All submissions, including the name of the person or organisation making the submission, will be published on the Department’s website. However, if you wish to make a submission but not be identified publicly this can be accommodated provided it is clearly indicated when the submission is made. When making a submission please indicate if you agree, or not, to your name being published on the Departments website.

Freedom of Information

All submissions and comments submitted to the Department for this purpose are subject to release under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 and the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007- 2014. Submissions are also subject to Data Protection legislation. Personal, confidential or commercially sensitive information should not be included in your submission and it will be presumed that all information contained in your submission is releasable under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.

Data Protection

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is collecting this data to help create a new shared vision for trees and forests in Ireland and in support of the development of the new Forest Strategy. All submissions, including the name of the person or organisation making the submission, may be shared with our external consultants who are coordinating this public consultation process. This data will be processed in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR EU 2016/679), the Data Protection Acts 1988-2018, the Freedom of Information Act 2014 and the DPER Consultation Principles and Guidance. Any additional personal data received as part of your submission will not be processed, shared, or retained and will be destroyed upon receipt. Publication to the Department’s website of personal data associated with submissions will only take place where permission is received to do this.

Further information on Data Protection can be found on our website here.

Privacy Statement

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy and employs appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information from unauthorised access. The Department will not process your personal data for any purpose other than that for which they were collected. Personal data may be exchanged with other Government Departments, local authorities, agencies under the aegis of the Department, or other public bodies, in certain circumstances where this is provided for by law.

The Department will only retain your personal data for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which they were collected and subsequently processed. When the business need to retain this information has expired, it will be examined with a view to destroying the personal data as soon as possible, and in line with Department policy.