Séamus Dunne Forest Service Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Features of Irish Forestry 10.6% of land area under forest, 744,000 ha Fragmented, 47% private, 19,000 owners Dominated by productive non native conifers Small area of native woodland Grants to create new woodlands, roads Roundwood forecast to increase from 3.8 to 7 million m 3 by 2028 Export focussed processing sector

Role of Forest Service Part of Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, Regulates forestry in Ireland, principally via – S.I.558 / 2010 (afforestation & forest road construction) – 1946 Forestry Act (thinning & felling / replanting) – S.I.125 / 2012 (aerial fertilisation) National Forest Inventory....

...Role of Forest Service Promotion of forestry via grants & supports to landowners – Afforestation grants and premiums – Neighbour Wood scheme – Forest road scheme – Woodland improvement scheme Forest Protection Forest Reproductive Material

Historical Context 1500 AD - Largely covered in Forests Deforestation – Wood required for industry, ironworks – Clearance for farming 1900 AD – Little over 1% forest 1920s Important decade – Start of Government afforestation – Government introduce Controls on Felling

Planting of new Forests to 2012 Hectares Year Nearly all State planting

Coillte State owned company created in 1989 to manage the State Forests Now a modern vertically integrated company with three Divisions 1.Coillte Forest 2.Coillte Enterprise 3.Coillte Panel Products

1. Coillte Forest 420,000 hectares, mostly forested Annual cut 2.4 million cubic metres Reforestation 6,000 hectares annually Recreation and amenity Biodiversity

2. Coillte Enterprise Windfarms Telecoms Biomass

3. Coillte Panel Products SmartPly – manufacture OSB products Medite – manufacture MDF products

Irelands Processing Sector Sawmills – 5 large sawmills, Balcas (NI), Glennon Brothers, Murray Timber Group, ECC Timber Products, Grainger Sawmills. – 4 medium sawmills, Coolrain, Laois, Palfab, woodfab. Panel Boards – 3 Panel Board producers Masonite Producing door skins SmartPly producing OSB Medite producing MDF

Boom to Bust House Completions per 1000 population

Surviving the Construction Crash Sawmills, Coillte and Government agencies combined efforts at International Trade shows Research into new products and markets Exports into UK grown from 4% to over 6% market share from 2007 to Development of new sawn wood markets in France, Turkey and elsewhere Demand now outstrips supply of raw material

Benefits of Forestry 2.2 Billion 12,000 jobs 18 m visits to forests Carbon sequestration Biodiversity

Current Challenges Environment versus Commercial Forestry – management in Sensitive areas – Hen Harrier SPAs – Freshwater Pearl Mussel areas

Current Challenges Ash Dieback disease (Chalara fraxinea) – Fraxinus - very significant tree in Irish context – Huge all-island effort currently underway

Current Challenges Private Sector – Afforestation – Certification – Forest Roads – Management and Thinning

Séamus Dunne Head of Forestry Inspectorate Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine