Written answers

Thursday, 27 October 2016

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Forestry Management

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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40. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether forests are being harvested too early, as dictated by market prices, rather than there being sustainable forest management and that, as a result, forestry may not be contributing as much as it should to carbon sequestration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32334/16]

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Rotation length is defined as the length of time between planting the trees and clearfelling the final forest. There are many factors that impact on the rotation length such as: species, site productivity, thinning regime, market requirements and site constraints.

Until recently the majority of clearfelling has been concentrated in the public estate. A significant portion of the private forest estate, particularly conifers, that were afforested in the 1980s and the early 1990s are now approaching a stage where forest owners may be considering the timing of felling operations. In addition the storm damage of February 2014, and strong market demands have led to increased levels of clearfelling in the private estate, where an entire standing group of trees is removed from an area in one operation.

In Ireland, it is generally accepted that rotation lengths should be geared towards ensuring that the regional and national growth potential is not reduced and that each forest stand is managed to achieve its maximum production potential. Where there has been a continuous and substantial annual increase in the forest area, only the most exploitative policies will compromise sustained future production and capacity for carbon sequestration. The issue therefore focuses on the general principle of rotation lengths that will provide a good return to the grower, consistent with the principle of sustained yield. Exceptions to normal practice usually involve the replacement of unproductive stands with a more productive crop, and the early felling of stands susceptible to windthrow in order to avoid technical problems and to reduce financial loss.

In February 2016, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine initiated a project to Assess the impact of forest felling age on overall financial return. The purpose of this work is to provide information to make growers and foresters aware of the possible impact of felling age on overall financial return. The results of this work will be made available online through an interactive tool that allows forest owners and managers assess the optimum fell age of their forest. Hardcopy results will also be available. The provision of this information will inform forest owners and managers on the appropriate felling age, with a view to maximising the return on their investment. It is vital that landowners have a positive experience from their forestry investments and that revenue from the first rotation facilitates reforestation to continue the forest cycle.

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