New figures released by the Department of Agriculture show that there was €73.8m spent on forestry sector payments in 2023.

This spend includes afforestation grants, maintenance grants, annual payments and grants for the construction of forest road infrastructure.

There was 1,651ha of new forestry planted in 2023, with Roscommon and Galway being the counties with the highest areas at a respective 189ha and 139ha.

The area planted remains well below the Government's forestry target of 8,000ha of new forestry per year.

Leitrim remains the most forested county in Ireland, with one in every five acres planted.

Over half of the new forestry created in 2023 was broadleaf - a rise on the just 43% of new plantations being broadleaf in 2022.

Forestry roads

The Department funded the construction of 78km of forestry roads last year, which represents an increase of 8km on the previous year.

These roadways will aid the harvesting of timber over the coming years, as volumes are expected to doubled by 2030 as a significant chunk of the forestry estate reaches maturity.

Licences were issued for the clear felling of 24,444ha and the thinning of 8,144ha.

Over 500,000ha have been licenced for thinning since 2010 and more than 180,000ha have been granted licences for clearfell over the same timeframe.

Historical figures

Grants have been paid out to 24,000 landowners to establish new forestry since 1980, with the average area established by each being 8.6ha.

Some 82% of these landowners were farmers over this four-decade period, but fewer than half were farmers in 2023.

The Department figures also show that between 2006 and 2023, 40% of the acres planted in new forestry was owned by those aged 60 or more.

Looking just to 2023, this figure had risen to 57% of the owners of new forestry planted.