Press release
Forestry Licencing Plan 2024 published
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Pippa Hackett, has published her department’s Forestry Licencing plan for 2024. The Plan estimates that the department will issue 4,200 new licences in 2024, and confirms that the department has capacity to issue sufficient licences to meet its annual target of 8,000 hectares of new forests.
Referring to the Plan, Minister Hackett said that the focus for her department, and for the forestry sector more widely, needs to remain resolutely on maximising afforestation rates and managing existing forests in order to ensure that the targets outlined in Ireland’s Climate Action Plan are achieved.
Minister Hackett said:
“Since the new Forestry Programme opened in September, we have approved 73 afforestation licences, totalling 593 hectares. In addition, we have processed 92 applications already approved under the Forestry Programme 2014-2020 that hadn’t commenced planting and have now opted in to the new Forestry Programme 2023-2027. Those licences cover an area of 808 hectares, meaning a total land area of 1,401 hectares has been made available for planting at the higher grant and premium rates since the opening of the new Programme.”
Farmers account for 84% of applicants to the new afforestation scheme. To date, 46% of new applicants are choosing to plant spruce, with a 20% mix of broadleaf trees (Forest Type 12), and 43% are choosing to plant native forests (Forest Type 1). Since the small planting Native Tree Area scheme went live in October, the department has issued 13 approvals. On average, the department is issuing these approvals less than 3 weeks after receiving applications.
Minister Hackett said:
“This is the best-funded, most environmentally friendly forestry programme in the history of the State, and I would encourage all farmers and landowners to look at the range of forestry options available to them.”
Landowners and farmers must obtain a licence from the department before planting or felling a forest. This is to ensure that all forestry activity protects the environment, follows sustainable forest management practices and abides by the law.
Minister Hackett continued:
“Licence output is ultimately demand-led, and the Licensing Plan reflects that. I am very confident that with the additional resources my department has put in place and building on the efficiencies made to date we will continue to outstrip demand in 2024 by issuing more licences than the number of applications we receive. By way of example, to 15 December this year the department had received 1,970 applications for a felling licence and issued 2,801 felling licences, so the capacity to outstrip demand is there.”
The Plan builds on recent improvements in the department’s licencing system. The department aims to issue afforestation licences within six months for straightforward projects - these are projects that are screened out from additional environmental assessment. For more complicated sites, where additional environmental assessment is needed, the department estimates that it will take up to nine months to issue an afforestation licence.
Farmers can see what grants and premiums are available under the new Programme at:
And use the ready reckoner to calculate potential income:
Forestry is regulated to protect and enhance the multiple benefits trees bring to our environment, biodiversity and economy, and to ensure the sustainability of our forests. The licensing system ensures our forests conform with national and international agreements and complies with best forest practice.
Separate forestry licences are required to plant new forests (afforestation licence), to cut down trees (felling licence), and to build roads through existing forests for maintenance. Forest owners must apply to the department for these licences through a registered forester/company who submits applications on their behalf. Establishing a forest is a long-term commitment and a permanent change of land-use. A replanting obligation applies to forests that are felled.
The new Forestry Programme was launched in September offering new afforestation grants rates up to 66% higher than the previous Forestry Programme. The programme also extends annual afforestation payments to farmers from 15 years to 20, and increases them significantly, for example, €1,142 per hectare for 20 years for planting a new forest of native trees. Full details on the grant and annual payment rates for the Forestry Programme 2023 -2027 are available at gov.ie/forestry along with frequently asked questions, a forestry payment calculator and payment examples.
The department was unable to issue afforestation licences for much of 2023 as it awaited State Aid approval for the new Programme from the European Commission. Following the approval and the launch of the Programme in September, the department began issuing afforestation licences again.