Leitrim has a higher proportion of its land covered by forestry than other county, recently released figures from the Department of Agriculture show.
Almost one in every five acres of Leitrim is covered in forestry, with 46% of this land in public ownership, according to the Department’s national forest inventory results.
Other counties with high levels of forestry are Wicklow (18.5%), Offaly (16.7%) and Laois (16.6%).
Co Louth has the lowest proportion of tree coverings at only 2.9%, followed by Monaghan (4.6%) and Meath and (5.9%).
Only 12.4% of Cork is in forestry, which is a lower proportion of the county than is seen in many western counties.
However, given the county’s larger overall size, Cork has more forestry acres than any other county at around 320,000ac.
Ownership and land type
It is Mayo and Donegal that are the counties whose forestry estate is most skewed towards conifers.
There are higher-than-average rates of public ownership of forestry in counties Wicklow, Donegal and Galway.
Most privately owned forestry has never been clear-felled, with much of it planted from the 1980s onwards.
The majority of publicly-owned woodlands have already been harvested and are back in another cycle of timber.
Some 60% of forestry is located on mineral soils and the remainder on peats.
The Department puts just under one-third of forestry as growing on “highly productive gley soils”.
Nearly half of all forestry is growing on land with “one or more environmental designation”, such as being a special area of conservation or a special protected area.
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Leitrim has a higher proportion of its land covered by forestry than other county, recently released figures from the Department of Agriculture show.
Almost one in every five acres of Leitrim is covered in forestry, with 46% of this land in public ownership, according to the Department’s national forest inventory results.
Other counties with high levels of forestry are Wicklow (18.5%), Offaly (16.7%) and Laois (16.6%).
Co Louth has the lowest proportion of tree coverings at only 2.9%, followed by Monaghan (4.6%) and Meath and (5.9%).
Only 12.4% of Cork is in forestry, which is a lower proportion of the county than is seen in many western counties.
However, given the county’s larger overall size, Cork has more forestry acres than any other county at around 320,000ac.
Ownership and land type
It is Mayo and Donegal that are the counties whose forestry estate is most skewed towards conifers.
There are higher-than-average rates of public ownership of forestry in counties Wicklow, Donegal and Galway.
Most privately owned forestry has never been clear-felled, with much of it planted from the 1980s onwards.
The majority of publicly-owned woodlands have already been harvested and are back in another cycle of timber.
Some 60% of forestry is located on mineral soils and the remainder on peats.
The Department puts just under one-third of forestry as growing on “highly productive gley soils”.
Nearly half of all forestry is growing on land with “one or more environmental designation”, such as being a special area of conservation or a special protected area.
Read more
Forestry area surpasses 800,000ha but conifers still dominate
Green Belt: 500m trees and 40 years on
Forestry submission to Brussels 'still weeks away'
Commission takes issue with Ireland’s new forestry programme
Government and Coillte back away from future investment fund deals
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