merrion street

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with responsibility for forestry, Andrew Doyle, announced the publication of the main findings of Ireland’s third National Forest Inventory (NFI). The publication of the NFI is the culmination of three year’s work by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to record and assess the extent and nature of Ireland’s forests, both public and private. The NFI is undertaken every 5 years and this is the third Inventory to be published.

Commenting on the publication, the Minister said

The third National Forest Inventory, undertaken by my Department, gives us accurate, up-to-date information about the extent and changing nature of Ireland’s forests. This publication is very much the go-to reference document for anybody interested in the latest situation on forestry and land-use in Ireland. Repeated NFI cycles have provided results on aspects such as forest area change over time and the growing contribution which Ireland’s forests are making to national environmental priorities including tackling climate change.

In relation to the findings themselves, the Minister added

Overall we are seeing that the national forest estate is still expanding and has now reached 11% of the total land area, with a wide variety of forest types present. I’m also pleased to note that the share of broadleaf species in the national forest estate now stands at 29%. I expect that the incentives for broadleaf planting in the Mid-term Review of the Forestry Programme will further drive this figure. In terms of wood mobilisation, it is encouraging that the volume of timber felled between 2013-2017 showed an increase of 1.28 million cubic metres over the period 2006-2012. This is a positive indicator of increased wood mobilisation and represents a valuable source of revenue for forest owners and a source of additional employment in the rural economy through harvesting, transport and downstream processing.

The Minister also advised that

the NFI remains crucial in documenting the contribution of our forests in tackling climate change. The carbon resource within the forest has proven to be of pivotal significance in Ireland achieving its Kyoto target under the first commitment period of 2008-2012 and will remain the case for future targets. It’s important that our climate and environmental policies are under-pinned by the most accurate and robust data possible and the NFI is an excellent example of this.

All NFI publications, including the main findings booklet are available on the Department’s website at www.agriculture.gov.ie/nfi. Further information on the NFI and hard copies of the NFI Main Findings booklet may be obtained from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Johnstown Castle Estate, Co. Wexford; Tel: 053 9163400 or email: nfi@agriculture.gov.ie