11 October 2024

Let’s Talk Trees

An informative series of town hall meetings, focusing on forestry creation options, will commence next week. Teagasc Forestry Development Officer Liam Kelly tells us more.

Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine (DAFM), Forestry Section, are hosting a series of four forestry information events from October 15 – 23, 2024. These events are being organised to raise awareness of the excellent opportunities under the current Forestry Programme to add value to your farm and land holding. As well as providing information on the many forestry options, these meetings will also provide a great opportunity to engage with Teagasc and DAFM staff on a one-to-one basis to have all your queries addressed.

Forestry Programme

The current Forestry Programme 2023 – 2027 provides many incentives to all to consider on their land.

• The Afforestation Scheme offers 11 different Forest Types for approved farmers and landowners. These provide forestry creation options that will suit many objectives and can complement other farming enterprises. An afforestation licence will be required. Both farmers and non-farmers can apply.
• The Native Tree Area Scheme (NTA) offers the opportunity to create a small native woodland of up to one hectare on farmed land. The Scheme provides scope to plant one further hectare if your land adjoins a relevant watercourse with multiple benefits for you, including water quality protection and enhancements. This scheme will not require an afforestation licence, but is subject to the terms and conditions of the NTA scheme. 

A whole farm planning approach will help you analyse how planting land with trees may benefit your overall farm enterprises, schemes and family objectives. The forestry option will generally complement your current farm payments with good and timely planning. There are also a number of attractive support schemes under the Forestry Programme that help manage and optimise the benefits from existing forests.

Let’s Talk Trees Events

Four collaborative town hall events are planned nationwide. Each event will run over a half day, from 10.00 am, opening with 3 short presentations. Presenters will include a farmer forest owner, providing valuable insights on her/his own forestry experiences.

Following these presentations, there will be good opportunity to engage individually with DAFM and Teagasc staff with individual booths set up at each venue. These individual clinics will provide a good opportunity to and have all you forestry questions answered.

Let’s Talk Trees events will include:

• Three short presentations, including a farm forestry case study
• Details on grants and premium available for forest creation
• How forestry fits in with your farm and other schemes
• Information on existing forestry management support schemes
• Individual support clinics with DAFM/Teagasc staff

Locations and dates

For further details check out the Teagasc website or contact your local Teagasc forestry staff.

These events are free and registration is not required. All interested landowners and forest owners are encouraged to attend.