Mr. Colm Hayes:

I would like to start by thanking the committee for giving me the opportunity to address members here today on the important role forestry policy will play in climate change mitigation. The challenges of climate change and the global effort that is required to meet those challenges will require significant action across the whole of society. The recently published climate action plan provides a whole-of-government approach to reducing Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions and provides a range of actions for all areas of our economy, which includes the agriculture and the forest land use sectors. We know the mitigation potential from agriculture is limited but the ag-climatise strategy in the Department, which is currently out for consultation, sets out an ambitious strategy for our agriculture and land use sectors. The Government's climate action plan sets out ambitious targets for forestry, which can be broadly summarised into the following three main pillars: maintaining the existing forests through sustainable forest management; expanding the forest area through afforestation and; promoting and increasing the use of harvested wood products, including the use of energy derived from sustainably produced forest biomass.

The existing forest estate has grown steadily over the past 100 years to just over 770,000 ha today. The national forest area is 11% and is at its highest level for over 350 years.

This expansion is testament to the significant efforts made by generations of foresters and landowners who have built a forest resource that is providing multiple benefits to society.

Successive Governments have provided significant financial supports in the creation of the public State forests but also in the creation of the private forests owned by more than 22,000 forest owners. Some 350,000 ha have been planted since 1990. In 2018 more than 3.69 million cu. m of timber was harvested from Ireland’s forests with more than 1 million cu. m coming from private forests. However, it is important that we continue to manage these forests sustainably to ensure that they continue to provide a range multiple benefits, including carbon sequestration. Based on the national inventory report, Irish forests remove more than 3.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. In addition, the carbon stored in harvested wood products, amounting to an additional 0.73 million tonnes, demonstrates the importance of increasing the use of timber across the whole of society. The climate action plan also acknowledges that we must continue to protect and monitor our forests for disease, fires and deforestation which can also be a source of emissions.

The second key pillar of the climate action plan is to continue the efforts to increase the size of the national forest area through increased afforestation. The climate action plan has set an ambitious target of achieving 8,000 ha per year and this will present many challenges but also opportunities for landowners who wish to plant. The performance of meeting our afforestation targets under our current national forestry programme has fallen behind in recent years for a variety of reasons, including land availability and increasing land prices. However, this trend must be reversed.

We have made significant changes to our forestry programme as part of the mid-term review and we are seeing some progress in certain areas but more needs to be done. We must also work harder to communicate to the wider public the importance of forestry and ensure that the forests created reflect good practice in forest design. We must continue to support species diversity and ensure that forests have a positive impact on the environment. The recent changes made to the existing forestry programme are having positive impacts in increasing the percentage of broadleaves planted which amounted to more than 27% of the species mix in forests planted in 2018. We must also continue to support and encourage forest owners in the management of their plantations and encourage a diversity of species and sustainable management practices. I am encouraged to see the increased take up in the use of continuous cover forestry and agroforestry, although small-scale, these certainly have an increasing role to play as an alternative management practice in certain locations. Species selection and tree breeding can also play a significant role in ensuring that existing and future forests are resilient and can adapt in a changing climate.

It is clear there is no silver bullet to achieving higher planting rates and that a multifaceted strategy must be employed. This means putting in more efforts to get farmers to re-engage with the programme and better communication of the farm-forestry message. It means better integration between the next Common Agricultural Policy and the next national forestry programme. It also means better use of suitable public lands for afforestation and we have already seen some significant announcements here through collaboration between Coillte and Bord na Móna, for example. We also need to share knowledge and build and manage more resilient forests for the future and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is working closely with stakeholders and the COFORD Council through various working groups.

The forecasted increase in volumes from the forest estate is set to double to nearly 8 million cu. m by 2035, and it is important that we continue to mobilise this timber to all available markets. The climate action plan contains a number of actions which will continue the good work already taking place in areas of research and innovation.

Forestry is a climate change solution and combined with emission reductions across all sectors, we will continue our efforts to meet our climate change commitments. I look forward to discussing with the committee the role forests plays in climate change and to hear members' views on how we can maximise the contribution that forests will make now and in the future.