No EU requirement for forestry replanting

There is no EU requirement for Ireland to continue with its forestry replanting obligation after the clear-fell of trees, and the policy should be abandoned, the Association of Irish Forestry Consultants (AIFC) has insisted.

The association also warned that farmers were no longer interested in forestry and called for a major review of the current forestry programme.

“There is no EU requirement for Ireland to continue with the replanting obligation,” said AIFC chair Dermot Houlihan.

“This was made clear to a recent delegation of Irish forestry consultants when they met senior European Commission officials responsible for forestry policy and enforcement.

“The present requirement to replant after clear felling is a major obstacle to afforestation in Ireland.

Target

“Unless this requirement is removed, the target for afforestation of 8,000ha annually will never be achieved,” Houlihan maintained.

During a visit to Brussels last week the association presented senior European Commission officials with a position paper which focuses on getting farmers to plant trees and to view forestry as another farm crop.

The lifting of the requirement to replant would bring an immediate and positive reaction from farmers who could profitably plant part of their farms without losing any EU farm entitlements and avail of forestry premia as well as growing a valuable crop as part of their pension requirement, the group stated.

The decision to replant should be a matter for subsequent generations to decide upon, it argued.

For the last two years the total area of new forestry plantings has been around 1,600ha to 1,700ha per year, well short of the 8,000ha target.