Mary Wallace (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

The people's millennium forests project was a flagship millennium project sponsored by the National Millennium Committee and Allied Irish Bank and managed by Coillte in association with Woodlands of Ireland. This was the largest ever project directed at the expansion and enhancement of Ireland's native woodlands and resulted in the establishment and conservation of 1,500 acres of native woodlands.

There were 16 sites involved in this project, 14 of which are in the Republic of Ireland and two in Northern Ireland. A total of 1.17 million trees were planted at 12 of the locations in the Republic of Ireland, details of which have been summarised in tabular form and circulated to the Deputy and which also will be included in the Official Report. The remaining two sites, namely, the yew wood at Muckross in Killarney, County Kerry and Rossacroo, County Kerry, had conservation work carried out. An additional 200,000 trees were planted at two locations in Northern Ireland by the forest service of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland, bringing the total number of trees planted to 1.37 million, which is almost 200,000 in excess of the original plan.

While I will not read out the contents of the tabular statement, which is very detailed, it lists the 12 sites, which are located in ten counties. Ten species were included, namely, alder, ash, birch, cherry, hazel, oak, other broadleaf, rowan, Scots pine and yew and the tabular statement sets out the number of trees that were planted in each of the aforementioned locations.

An independent audit of each site has been carried out by Woodlands of Ireland in the past year and I understand this audit confirmed that excellent, healthy native woodlands have been established at each of the locations. However, the purpose of the audit was to confirm that each planted site is progressing well rather than to count individual trees.

The forests planted as part of this project will be managed as native forests in perpetuity for the benefit of the people in accordance with the original project objectives. The forests will be managed on a continuous cover basis, meaning that the forests will never be clear-felled and that any trees that die or are thinned will be replaced by young trees regenerating naturally from the trees planted in 2000-1. The species planted have biological lifespans of 100 to 250 years.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

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