Forestry Facts and News

Forest trees began recolonising Ireland at the end of the last glacial stage 10,000 years ago. Analysis of pollen from peat bogs illustrates the establishment of forests that once covered 80% of the land surface.

The area of forest is estimated to be 808,848 ha or 11.6% of the total land area of Ireland (National Forest Inventory 2023);

Forest cover is estimated to be at its highest level in over 350 years;

Of the total forest area, 397,364 ha or 49.1% is in public ownership, mainly Coillte;

The forest estate is comprised of 69.4% conifers and 30.6% broadleaves;

Seventy percent of the stocked forest area is less than 30 years of age.

More information on Ireland forests can be found in Ireland’s Annual Forest Sector Statistics

For the first time in the history of the state, there are more privately owned forests than publicly owned forests. In 2022, 49.1% of forests were in State ownership, a reduction from 50.8% in 2017. The expansion of the private sector forest cover is a result of afforestation and natural expansion of semi-natural forests.

More information on Ireland forests can be found in Ireland’s Annual Forest Sector Statistics

Forests and forest products play an important role in mitigating climate change by sequestering and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).

Sequestration is the net removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, and storage in plant biomass, deadwood, and harvested wood product pools. CO2 is taken up during photosynthesis and stored as biomass.

Some carbon is released back into the atmosphere due to autotrophic respiration and from the forest deadwood, litter and soils pool due to decomposition. Sustainably managed forests are a net absorber of carbon.

However, unmanaged and degrading forests eventually become a net emitter of carbon back into the atmosphere. Large emissions can also occur during catastrophic disturbance events, such as fires and windthrow. About half of carbon in harvested timber is stored in wood products (HWPs) but these carbon stores are eventually released back into the atmosphere.

Use of wood for bioenergy replaces fossil fuel use and has the potential to reduce overall emissions. Fossil fuel emissions can also be reduced by substituting energy intensive materials with wood products like product substitution.

More information on Ireland forests carbon stocks can be found in Ireland’s

Annual Forest Sector Statistics

There are a number of tools available that allow forest owners and managers to estimate tree and forest information. Visit the Item was unpublished or removed page for more information and access to the tools available.

• at 11.4%, forest cover in Ireland in 2020 was one of the lowest in the EU 27, where the average forest cover was 38.3%; worldwide forest cover was 31.1%
• in 2020, public forest ownership in Ireland was at 54%, close to the EU average of 53.5%
• annual roundwood harvest was 4.7 million m3, compared with an EU average of 21.8 million m3 in the same year (2015 data)
• fellings represented at 64.5% of annual increment in 2015, which was slightly below the EU average of 66.8%
• of all the EU member states, Ireland has had the highest rate of increase in forest expansion as a percentage of total forest cover since 1990

On the Forest Statistics and Mapping page, Information on more detailed statistics including;

• Ireland’s Annual Forest Sector Statistics
• Maps of counties with forest cover
• Weekly forestry dashboards
• Ireland’s National Forest Inventory
• Forestry Opportunities Map
• And more

The Central Statistics Office collect the following surveys:

• Forest Wood Removals
• Wood Input Purchases by Industry
• Wood and Paper Exports and Imports

The purpose of the National Forest Inventory (NFI) is to record and assess the extent and nature of Ireland’s forests, both public and private, in a timely, accurate and reproducible manner.

Listen to the podcast Trees: From Seed to Sawdust. Produced by KCLR, the 20-part series that explores the role of trees in our lives and the benefits they bring. It is funded by the department as part of the Woodland Support Project.

Watch how forestry can benefit you:

Learn some interesting forestry facts and figures:

Watch video on forestry in Ireland and woodland creation:

In this video, Ciara, Teagasc's virtual forestry adviser, highlights some of the many and wide-ranging economic, environmental and social benefits our forests provide for us every day of our lives.

For detailed information on ongoing grants and schemes, see the Forestry Division Monthly Reports and Forestry Circulars

• Coillte
• Teagasc
• Coford
• National Parks and Wildlife Service
• Forest Health in Ireland

Watch back our webinar training session, prior to in-field training, on Afforestation applications including peat, habitat mapping, High Nature Value Farmland (HNVf), Hen Harrier and Breeding Waders, recorded on 26/07/2024

Watch back our webinar training session on Afforestation applications - High Nature Value Farmland and Hen Harrier recorded on 25/06/2024

Watch back our webinar training session for registered foresters on the Native Tree Area scheme, the Reconstitution Ash Dieback scheme, the Woodland Improvement scheme, and the Climate Resilient Reforestation scheme recorded on 8/11/2023

Watch back our webinar training session on Native Woodland Establishment recorded on 24/10/2024. Note that similar training was provided on 29/09/2023

Watch back our webinar training session for registered foresters on the Forest Road Scheme from 26/10/2023

• Information Session slides on New Forestry Programme 230823

NTAS_iNET

In response to an independent report entitled “Training Needs Analysis (TNA) To support the needs of an effective forestry licencing process”, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has put in place an Action Plan for training on forestry licensing and Native Woodland Conservation Scheme applications. The report and Action plan are published below.