Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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94. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider amending the mandate of Coillte to encourage it to provide a wide range of forestry services; and if he will direct Coillte to commence the planting of new forests. [41988/19]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Coillte was established under the Forestry Act 1988, Section 12 of which states the objectives of the company. These objectives are to carry on the business of forestry and related activities on a commercial basis and in accordance with efficient silvicultural practices, to establish and carry on woodland industries, and to participate with others in forestry and related activities consistent with its objectives.

This mandate already enables Coillte to provide a wide range of forestry services. Coillte currently manages some 440,000 hectares of land, the bulk of which is under forestry. The company sells a range of wood products and its forests and lands also provide the public with a range of ecosystem services such as nature conservation, carbon sequestration along with extensive recreational opportunities. The launch of Coillte Nature expands it remit and focuses on non-commerical activities. Its inaugural Dublin Mountains Conversion project converts commercial forests to recreational forests and is supported by native woodland grants from my Department.

The company continues to look for options to establish new forests and is actively considering the role it can play in facilitating the overall growth of the national forest estate. I welcome the recently announced collaboration between Coillte and Bord na Móna to plant 4 million native trees across 1,500 hectares of Bord na Móna land over the next 3 years. This project will bring a range of environmental benefits through the use of native species and will actively contribute to meeting the afforestation targets under the Government’s Climate Action Plan. I believe that there are other possibilities for Coillte to engage in afforestataion as indeed there are for other public bodies who own land. My Department will be engaging more intensively with these bodies to explore these opportunities.