Minister Healy-Rae confirms that over 26,000 hectares of forests have suffered wind damage
- Published on: 22 April 2025
- Last updated on: 22 April 2025
The satellite imagery-based assessment of wind-damaged forest areas following recent storms Darragh and Éowyn has now been completed by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Coillte.
Commenting, Minister of State with responsibility for Forestry, Farm Safety and Horticulture, Michael Healy-Rae said:
“We were very fortunate that we had a lot of clear skies over recent weeks, which allowed for the high-resolution satellite imagery to become available and be assessed so quickly. Following the initial estimates issued by my department in February, I can now confirm that final figures indicate that a total of 26,050 hectares of forests have been impacted. Of this area, 14,500 hectares are in the Coillte estate and 11,550 hectares of private forest areas have suffered wind damage.”
The detailed mapping assessment was carried out using imagery acquired from the Sentinel and SkySat satellite constellations. The use of high-resolution SkySat satellite imagery provided information at a local scale for delineation of forest damage areas. Information at a stand level scale is now available to registered foresters through a storm damage map layer on the department’s iNET mapping system.
The Minister emphasised:
“It is clear that the first task for forest owners affected by windblow is the safe clearance of sites. The majority of owners can use their existing clearfell and thinning licences to do this work. For those who do not have a licence it’s advisable that you apply for it now and mark it as ‘storm-damage’. All such applications received will be prioritised and issued as quickly as possible.”
The Minister continued:
“Once you have the licence you will still have time to harvest and you should not rush into any decisions but make a step-by-step plan to minimise risk and maximise the salvage value of your trees. Most wind-blown forests still have considerable timber value and will retain that value for some time, in particular if the tree is still connected to the roots.”
The Windblow Taskforce established by Minister Healy-Rae and Minister Heydon straight after the storm event took place, agreed at its last meeting that it will develop a comprehensive action plan building on the work completed to date. A detailed workshop will take place in early May to inform the next steps, drawing from the expertise of the pan-European Forest Risk Facility and other stakeholders.
Notes
- the department published Windblow and Storm Damage Guidance for Forest Owners
- the Windblow Taskforce was set up by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, and Minister of State for Forestry, Horticulture and Farm Safety, Michael Healy-Rae, following Storm Eowyn, comprises stakeholders representing forest owners, forestry companies, Teagasc, and Coillte. It has already met 5 times and is leading a coordinated response to the storms, with particular emphasis on dealing safely with the large areas of forest that have been blown down
Forest Licensing Statistics
Currently over 60% of the windblown area has a felling licence, with a further 12% being processed by the department currently, the remaining affected landowners are encouraged to apply for a licence to the prioritised licensing system for Windblown affected forestry sites.
Forest Risk Facility (FoRISK), endorsed by Forest Europe
Forest Europe, a pan-European voluntary forest policy process, has endorsed the establishment of the new Forest Risk Facility (FoRISK) during the 9th Forest Europe Ministerial Conference in Bonn last October.
The Facility aims to help pan-European countries reach a common understanding on approaches for tackling the most pressing forest risks and support their work by:
- further strengthening international and transboundary cooperation and networking on disaster risk management, forest adaptation and resilience
- stimulating knowledge and information exchange within the policy-science-practice interface
- increasing proactive engagement with the public and the media and disseminating information in an accessible and appropriate format