Major fall in felling licences in first quarter

There has been a major decline in felling licences for the first quarter this year, compared with previous years.

Licences were issued for only 3,529ha during the months of January to March compared with 5,832ha last year, 6,483ha in 2023 and 12,019ha in 2022.

“Against this performance, the Department of Agriculture might re-examine its approach of insisting that all forest owners with unlicensed windblown timber must go through an application system that will take months before licences are issued,” said Joe Codd, PRO of the Society of Irish Foresters.

“We don’t have data for the unlicensed windblown area of 12,000ha, but it’s clear that the Department won’t be able to approve these blown forests in time, even if over half have existing licences,” he added.

“There are precedents in other countries that a relaxation of rules is allowed following large storm events.

“For example, Natural Resources Wales officials confirmed the relaxation of rules up to 1 June this year for trees that were windblown or wind snapped during the storms of late 2024.”

He also listed other countries where the authorities temporarily relaxed felling regulations to help landowners recover quickly, such as Sweden and Germany.

“Removing the need to inspect windblown sites, would allow forestry inspectors and Department administrators more time to concentrate on afforestation and road licences,” he said. Afforestation licences show a marginal improvement on last year, with 1,025ha approved compared to 945ha in 2024.