Latest news with #SEEFA
Agriland
21-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
33 forestry licences issued by DAFM last week
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) issued a total of 33 forestry licences last week, including four for afforestation. This marks an increase on the 25 licences granted by the department in the previous week. The latest forestry dashboard, published by the department, shows that 14 of the licences issued last week related to private felling, with three Coillte felling licences issued. Up to May 16, DAFM had issued a total of 340 private felling licences and 116 Coillte felling licences for a total of 5,724ha. The department has received 431 private felling and 173 Coillte felling licences applications so far this year. Forestry The department issued four afforestation licences last week, down from six in the previous week. This brings the total afforestation licences granted this year by DAFM to 193 relating to 1,508ha. DAFM said that 1,146ha has been planted in so far in 2025. This figure reflects afforestation that has been paid at first grant stage this year to date only, including the Native Area Tree Scheme (NTAS). 12 of the licences granted last week were for forestry roads, bringing the total number of these licences issued in 2025 to 239 covering 82km. There has been 40km of roads constructed this year. The Social, Economic, and Environmental Forestry Association of Ireland (SEEFA) said that last week's performance 'comes on the back of a low spell for licensing, with the previous 5 weeks all well below expectations'. 'Periods like this make it clear that the current forestry programme has issues. Not enough hectares are being licensed or planted, and many schemes are not hitting their full potential. 'Earlier this year, SEEFA submitted input for the programme's mid-term review, and we hope to see some changes made to increase activity in DAFM and on the ground,' the association said. Licences The latest department data also shows that 163 licences have been issued by the department so far this year for the Reconstitution of Ash Dieback Scheme, relating to 543ha. 111 licences have been approved for the NTAS (123ha), 27 for the Woodland Improvement Scheme (159ha) and 55 for the Deer Tree Shelter scheme (2237ha). 14 licences have been issued for the Climate Resilient Reforestation Scheme covering 84ha. Two licences have been issued for the Native Woodland Conservation Scheme this year for 17ha. The department has received 21 appeals relating to afforestation so far this year, 10 on forest roads and eight on tree felling.
Agriland
13-05-2025
- Business
- Agriland
Just 25 forestry licences issued by DAFM last week
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) issued just 25 forestry licences last week, over half of which were for private felling. This marks a significant decrease on the 56 licences granted by the department in the previous week. According to the latest forestry dashboard, published by the department, 14 of the licences issued last week were for private felling and while there were no Coillte felling licences issued. Up to May 9, DAFM had issued a total of 326 private felling licences and 113 Coillte felling licences for a total of 5,446ha. Forestry The department issued six afforestation licences last week, down from 11 in the previous week. This brings the total afforestation licences granted this year by DAFM to 189 relating to 1,478ha. The data shows that 1,079ha has been planted in 2025. This figure reflects afforestation that has been paid at first grant stage this year to date only, including the Native Area Tree Scheme (NTAS). Last week saw a further 5 licences issued for forestry roads bringing the total to 227 covering 78km. There has been 40km of roads constructed this year. The figures also show that 153 licences issued by the department so far this year for the Reconstitution of Ash Dieback Scheme, relating to 521ha. 101 licences have been approved for the NTAS (111ha), 24 for the Woodland Improvement Scheme (151ha) and 51 for the Deer Tree Shelter scheme (223ha). 10 licences have been issued for the Climate Resilient Reforestation Scheme covering 60ha. Two licences have been issued for the Native Woodland Conservation Scheme this year for 17ha. The department has received 16 appeals relating to afforestation so far this year, 10 on forest roads and 7 on tree felling. SEEFA The Social, Economic, and Environmental Forestry Association of Ireland (SEEFA) said that last week was a 'shocking performance reminiscent of the unacceptably low levels of 2023'. 'Although significant progress has been made over the past 18 months, performances like last week's simply cannot be allowed to happen. 'Even one week at this poor level can set us back months in achieving our environmental and economic objectives, undermining hard-won gains,' it said. The association has urged Minister of State with responsibility for forestry Michael Healy-Rae and his department 'to investigate the underlying causes of last week's disappointing licensing numbers'. 'Immediate action is essential to prevent a return to the unsustainable licensing backlog and numbers that plagued the sector in previous years,' SEEFA said.
Agriland
29-04-2025
- Business
- Agriland
43 forestry licences granted last week by DAFM
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) issued a total of 43 forestry licences last week, including nine for afforestation. This is an increase on the 32 forestry licences issued by department officials during the previous week. The latest forestry dashboard, published by the department, shows that 18 of the licences issued last week were for private felling and four were for Coillte felling. Up to April 25, DAFM had issued a total of 284 private felling licences and 110 Coillte felling licences for a total of 4,920ha. There were 12 licences issued for forestry roads last week, bringing the total for 2025 to 185 relating to 65km. The latest data shows that 37km of roads have been constructed this year. Forestry The DAFM has now issued 172 afforestation licences in 2025 relating to 1,380ha. Some 111 valid applications have been received by the department. A total of 749ha of forestry has been planted so far this year, with 122ha of that planted in April. The department noted that the figures for afforestation planted in 2025 reflect afforestation that has been paid at first grant stage this year to date only, including the Native Area Tree Scheme (NTAS). There have been 131 licences issued by the department so far this year for the Reconstitution of Ash Dieback Scheme, relating to 448ha. 76 licences have been approved for the NTAS (84ha), 22 for the Woodland Improvement Scheme (145ha) and 48 for the Deer Tree Shelter scheme (214ha). Two licences have been issued for the Native Woodland Conservation Scheme this year for 17ha. SEEFA The Social, Economic, and Environmental Forestry Association of Ireland (SEEFA) voiced concern about the level of forestry licensing. 'For the second week running, forestry licensing numbers remain low across all categories. 'Only 43 licences were issued last week, including just 9 afforestation licences covering 96 hectares, just over 57 hectares short of the weekly target needed to achieve the annual goal of 8,000 hectares. 'Felling licences also continue to fall significantly short of pre-2024 levels, while road licensing results remain modest. 'Despite this, April as a whole is still one of the strongest months for forestry licensing in recent years. 'While this improvement is encouraging, we hope the poor performance of the past two weeks becomes an exception rather than a return to previous norms,' it said.
