Climate Action: Forestry, Peatlands and Land Use

Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry are key elements in the Climate Action Plan 2021 and actions and targets are set out in the Plan aimed at reducing emissions from this sector by between 37-58% by 2030:

These include:

• Maintaining existing afforestation plans, extending rotations and improving forestry management. By 2030, achieving a planting rate of 8,000 ha/year – to increase carbon sequestration;
• Launch a new Forestry Programme in 2023 focussing on the importance of climate smart forestry;
• Increasing the inclusion of cover crops in tillage to at least 50,000 hectares by 2030;
• Limit deforestation rates to less than 900 ha/year by 2030;
• Rehabilitation of 65,000 ha of peatlands;
• Improving management for carbon sequestration of at least 450,000 ha of grasslands on mineral soils;
• Designating 30% of Ireland’s marine area as a Marine Protected Area; and
• Increasing the inclusion of cover crops in tillage to at least 50,000 ha by 2030.

Actions recently completed under previous Climate Action Plans include:

Forestry:

• Coillte Nature established to deliver new woodlands with a focus on the environment and recreational forests.
• Steps taken to increase afforestation rates, like improving public participation in decision making and speeding up the forestry licensing and appeals processes.
• Forestry License Viewer public portal launched providing information on forestry licence applications.
• “Woodland Creation on Public Lands’ scheme launched, to develop non-commercial and permanent woodlands on public lands. This will deliver benefits for community recreation, carbon storage and nature protection.
• Plans put in place for forestry on state-owned land, including planting native and mixed woodland on 1,500 hectares across three counties.
• Coillte has developed models for increasing afforestation in Ireland
• Tree breeding programmes to improve resilience and adaptation, continued.
• Forest carbon calculator developed which measures the benefits of forests on emission reductions.
• Work underway to promote the use of timber (wood) in the construction sector, including through public procurement.
• Annual monitoring of existing forest estate for pest and disease to help protect and maintain carbon stocks and stores.
• Call for Proposals for the promotion of forestry launched.

Peatland and Land Use:

• €108 million funding provided for a large scale Bord na Móna project to restore and rehabilitate our peatlands. This project will turn carbon sources into sinks, improve biodiversity and help meet our climate goals. It will also provide jobs and help ensure a just transition in the Midlands.
• Restoration of large areas (22,107 hectares) of raised bog habitat underway,to stop the loss of carbon from the bogs, and further rehabilitation plans are being put in place.
• A suite of measures put in place to support communities and workers affected by the ending of peat harvesting. For example, the appointment of a Just Transition commissioner and the publication of the Just Transition Progress Reports, and the Just Transition Fund.
• Funding has been put in place for 2021 for the National Biodiversity Data Centre.
• Funding provided to purchase equipment to establish a National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory to measure greenhouse gas fluxes from soils under agricultural management.
• Contract awarded and funding allocated for research project to investigate historic peatlands maps to provide accurate information.
• Modelling completed on the impact of different afforestation rates on accountable emissions under the Effort Sharing Regulation.
• Research commenced measuring the effects of re-wetting and seasonal water table management on greenhouse gas emissions from peat soil.

For more information on the progress Ireland has made to date, please see the Climate Action Plan Progress Reports.

Forests, wetlands and bogs provide a wide range of benefits when it comes to climate action. They remove carbon dioxide from the air and store it, preventing it from being released into the atmosphere. This helps to reduce climate change, as well as provide cleaner air and water.

These areas are also home to a large diversity of plant and animal species. This can help to address the biodiversity crisis, in other words the variety of life and species, by providing space for wildlife to live.

Forests also play a vital role in the bio-economy, by providing renewable raw materials for the manufacture of a wide range of wood products, such as timber for use in construction.

Bogs and wetlands can reduce the effects of storm and flood events by naturally storing water in the landscape like a sponge, and releasing it slowly back into the atmosphere.

The planting of new forests gives farmers the opportunity to expand the use of their lands and future income.

The State offers a number of supports to landowners to plant new forest or support existing forests. Teagasc provides the following grants:

• Forestry Establishment Grants: Financial support to establish a new broadleaf or conifer forest.
• Forestry Management Grants: Financial support to better manage your existing forest.

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