Mr. Andreas Gumbert:

The EU has a strategy in place, the aim of which is to ensure the long-term and sustainable use of our forestry resources. The expansion of forested areas by means of afforestation is seen as extremely positive. The interest in afforestation is quite different across the various member states. Some with very large areas of forestry possibly have less space available for afforestation. In Ireland, however, it seems there is some scope for increasing the area of land covered by forests. Rural development policy provides a means for supporting afforestation, forest environmental measures can also be supported and investments can be made in respect of existing forestry. There are support possibilities and this is mainly because it is recognised that forests play a multifunctional role. For example, afforestation can represent the most economic use of certain land. At the same time, however, there are always environmental considerations such as water stabilisation and biodiversity benefits. In addition, forests can be used to produce biomass which is then used to generate bioenergy.

Afforestation also gives rise to impacts in the context of climate. For example, the level of carbon sequestration increases as the amount of land under forest increases. There is a framework in place that will ensure that the climate benefit and mitigation effects associated with afforestation, including the amount of carbon stored in sinks on forested land, will be taken into account by 2020. At present, the accounting mechanism ensures that the impact of afforestation is recognised by member states and that the benefits accruing from it will be counted against the climate targets that will come into place in 2020.