Forestry targets 17% of land area

THE National Strategic Plan for Forestry has a target to expand forestry to 17% of total land area with most new planting occurring on farmer- owned land, according to Teagasc.

The national farm research body predicts that by 2018 there will be over 800,000 hectares of forest, or 12% of Ireland’s total land area.

Over 50% will be privately-owned and the contribution of the private sector to overall timber supply will be greatly increased.