Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 April 2026
169. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total area of State-owned forestry under the control or management of Coillte; the proportion of this area planted with native species and non-native species respectively; and if he will provide a breakdown by species type for the past ten years. [28979/26]
View answer170. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether any policy targets are in place to increase the proportion of native woodland on State-owned forestry lands; the current percentage of native woodland within the State forestry estate; and any planned timelines or targets for expansion. [28980/26]
View answerThe National Forest Inventory (NFI), carried out by my Department, provides an objective, statistically robust assessment of Ireland’s forest resource, and covers the composition and extent of Ireland’s forest estate, including private and publicly owned forests. As of 2022, the NFI registered 411,484 ha (50.9%) of forests in private ownership and 397,364 ha (49.1%) in public ownership.
Coillte currently manages 440,000 hectares of land (7% of the total area of the State), of which 396,000 hectares consists of forests. The NFI 2022 shows that native trees account for 20.2%, and non-native 79.8%, of the Coillte estate. By comparison, the figures from 2006 indicated a 15% broadleaf/85% non-native split, while 2017 figures showed 18.7% native / 81.3% non-native trees.
In accordance with Coillte’s Forest Estate Land Use Plan, the organisation aims to increase the area of its forest estate being managed primarily for nature from 20% to 50% in the long term, by enhancing and restoring biodiversity and planting new forests, half of which will be native woodlands.
The Forestry Programme 2023-2027 in Ireland has set an ambitious annual target for broadleaf planting, increasing it to 50% of total annual planting. This is a significant rise from the 30% target in the previous 2014-2020 Programme. A 20% minimum broadleaf component is now mandatory for all mixed forest types.
Aiming at progressing afforestation on lands in public ownership, my Department is leading a focused Planting on Public Lands initiative as part of the implementation of the Forestry Programme 2023–2027. The Planting on Public Lands initiative has progressed from awareness raising to active delivery, with 33 public bodies formally engaged to date.
