The Government has fallen short of its 8,000ha planting target for 2022 by 40%, latest figures have revealed.

Some 674 afforestation licences, covering 4,779ha of land, were granted by the Department of Agriculture up to the second week of December. The number of afforestation licences granted stood at 289 in June.

Overall, this means the Government only reached 59% of its planting target for the year.

Approval

The total hectares approved for planting has remained at a similar level over the last number of years. In 2021, 4,246ha was approved for planting and in 2020 this figure was 4,342ha.

Last month Minister of State with responsibility for forestry Pippa Hackett told the Irish Farmers Journal that the 8,000ha annual planting target “is realistic at present”.

However, figures from the Department of Agriculture also show that less than half of the 4,779ha approved for planting was actually planted, with just 2,243ha planted by the second week of December.

Backlog

Meanwhile, the licensing backlog for all applications (felling, roads and afforestation) currently stands at just over 2,000 licences.

This number is down from 3,700 in January and a backlog of 6,000 in August 2021.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said that there are currently 1,005 approved afforestation licences, with just under 7,421ha ready for planting.

Details of the payment rates for new forestry schemes have been released by his Department.