Area planted for the first six months of this year reached 1,513ha, compared with 716ha for the same period last year. Felling licences were issued for 7,698ha up to the end of June, compared with 11,339ha last year. Forest road licences amounted to 103km compared with 167km in 2024, but road construction increased from 31km in 2024 to 42km so far this year.
These are the main finding in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) dashboard six-monthly report. Dashboard reports provide a weekly breakdown of planting, felling and roading licences issued by area and number, as well as data on native tree area (NTA) and forest reconstitution and improvement schemes.
Afforestation
The more positive performance so far this year is in afforestation, as planting for the first six months is close to the total planting programme of 1,573ha achieved last year. If this rate of planting can be maintained, a 3,000ha programme is achievable. Even if planting is maintained at last year’s levels, total afforestation for the year should be over 2,400ha, well behind the 8,000ha target, but the best performance since 2020.
None so Hardy Forestry (NHF), which is the main supplier of nursery plants to the private sector, is a good barometer of assessing planting performance.
“We welcome the increase in afforestation, which is reflected in our plants dispatched up to the end of June,” said Teige Ryan, director NHF.
“Trees supplied by our nurseries to new planting sites in 2025 are up significantly on last year,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal.
While he believes a 3,000ha planting target is overly ambitious he said: “Based on our own figures, there is certainly potential to achieve 2,400ha afforestation programme by the end of the year.”
Ryan hopes the current momentum “is capitalised upon” and continued in 2026.
“The multi-benefits of afforestation and the financial incentives available to landowners should be strongly marketed to attract new entrants,” he said.
Planting performance over the coming years depends on afforestation licences issued and these are down for the first six months of this year. Just 1,794ha afforestation licences were approved up to the end of June, compared with 2,117ha for the first six months of last year. What will help in achieving a more positive planting programme is the reserve of licence approvals under the previous forestry programme.
“In addition to the figures for this year, DAFM has processed 216 (1,747ha) applications already approved under the Forestry Programme 2014-2020 that hadn’t commenced planting and have now opted into the new Forestry Programme 2023-2027,” a DAFM spokesperson said.
Average planting size for the first six months was 7.6ha, which is similar to previous years. The trend towards non-commercial forestry is now obvious as an estimated 60% of all planting comprises broadleaves and biodiverse areas. Ideally, a forest should contain at least 10ha of conifers to be commercial. As there is a mandatory requirement to carry 35% broadleaves and open biodiverse areas, the average application should be in the region of 15ha to be a commercially viable unit.
So far this year, 135 approvals were issued for 146ha under the NTA scheme. Last year, just 97ha were planted under this well-meaning but flawed scheme, which needs reassessment in terms of its effectiveness and high administration cost.
Felling licences
Felling licences issued for 7,698ha are down not only compared with the first six months last year (11,339ha), but way below 2023 when 18,505ha were approved. Even if over half of the windblown area is licensed, it would be expected that the unlicensed area of over 5,000ha of extra licences should now be in the pipeline for application and approval.
When areas are equated to volume, 2.3 million m3 were approved for felling so far this year, compared with 3.2 million m3 last year, which is less than half the 5.0 million m3 licensed in 2023. Previous years’ licences have been well above actual harvesting and sales, which is one of the reasons the sector is confident that up to 60% of windblown timber is licensed. Farmers with windblown forests but who have a thinning licence can automatically remove all trees.
The storm has served as a reminder of the need to activate clearfell licences when the crop is ready for final harvest, rather than waiting, especially in areas where forests are vulnerable to windblow.
A "condition red" forest fire warning has been issued, which indicates that forests are at extreme risk at present.
Forest roads
Forest road licence approvals were down from 167km in 2024, to 103km up to June this year. Last year was an exceptionally good year for roading licences issued, following 2023 when licences almost came to a standstill as the new forestry programme was still being negotiated. Road licences issued for the first six months during 2021-2022 averaged 150km.
Actual road construction always lags well behind licences issued, but the 42km of roads constructed up to June this year is up by 35% on 2024 (31km), 60% over 2023 (26km) and 28% over 2022 (33km). It is probably too early to assess the increased trend in road building, but the urgency to remove timber after storms Darwin and Éowyn, may be a factor.
Other schemes
Up to June, 261 approvals were issued under the Reconstitution of Ash Dieback (RAD) scheme for an area of 838ha. Since RAD commenced there have been 1,199 approvals, representing 4,272 ha.
Under the Climate Resilient Reforestation Scheme 23 approvals were issued up to June representing 133ha. While 97 approvals were issued for 540ha under the Woodland Improvement Scheme (WIS) or 1,550ha since the scheme commenced.
In short
1,513ha planted up to June this year, more than double 2024 (716ha).Afforestation licences down from 2,117ha in 2024 to 1,794ha this year. Felling licences down from 11,339ha in 2025 to 7,698ha in 2024.Road construction up from 31km in 2024 to 42km this year.Road licences down from an average 150km to 103km.Forest fire warning
Although the “condition red” forest fire warning, issued over last weekend is no longer in force, the advice by the DAFM and forestry organisations is to remain vigilant. Weather trends would indicate that Ireland will experience very hot and dry spells in the future. Last weekend’s warning arose out of recent weather patterns, leading to extreme fire risk.
Unlike the continent, a condition red fire warning is a comparatively rare event in Ireland. The warning allows landowners and relevant authorities to take action which “may involve the mobilisation, assembly and prepositioning of resources such as water tankers, machinery, personnel and contract aviation support to high risk areas,” a DAFM spokesperson said.
“Landowners and managers should remain vigilant to all fire activity and report all suspicious activity to An Garda Síochána,” she added. “Visitors to forests and other recreational sites should cooperate with all requests regarding fire safety, obey all relevant bye-laws and be considerate in parking vehicles so as not to impede access by emergency vehicles.”
DAFM advises that fires, barbecues and other open ignition sources be avoided on forest lands and in other high risk areas during dry spells. It is an offence to cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy any vegetation growing on any land not then cultivated between 1 March and 31 August.
Forest owners and managers, as well as land managers, landowners and local authorities should implement fire patrols to exclude all fire activity from the landscape and enforce relevant fire protection legislation. While the number of forest fires has been low so far this year, 1,200ha of mainly mountain and peatland have been burned by wildfires.
Area planted for the first six months of this year reached 1,513ha, compared with 716ha for the same period last year. Felling licences were issued for 7,698ha up to the end of June, compared with 11,339ha last year. Forest road licences amounted to 103km compared with 167km in 2024, but road construction increased from 31km in 2024 to 42km so far this year.
These are the main finding in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) dashboard six-monthly report. Dashboard reports provide a weekly breakdown of planting, felling and roading licences issued by area and number, as well as data on native tree area (NTA) and forest reconstitution and improvement schemes.
Afforestation
The more positive performance so far this year is in afforestation, as planting for the first six months is close to the total planting programme of 1,573ha achieved last year. If this rate of planting can be maintained, a 3,000ha programme is achievable. Even if planting is maintained at last year’s levels, total afforestation for the year should be over 2,400ha, well behind the 8,000ha target, but the best performance since 2020.
None so Hardy Forestry (NHF), which is the main supplier of nursery plants to the private sector, is a good barometer of assessing planting performance.
“We welcome the increase in afforestation, which is reflected in our plants dispatched up to the end of June,” said Teige Ryan, director NHF.
“Trees supplied by our nurseries to new planting sites in 2025 are up significantly on last year,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal.
While he believes a 3,000ha planting target is overly ambitious he said: “Based on our own figures, there is certainly potential to achieve 2,400ha afforestation programme by the end of the year.”
Ryan hopes the current momentum “is capitalised upon” and continued in 2026.
“The multi-benefits of afforestation and the financial incentives available to landowners should be strongly marketed to attract new entrants,” he said.
Planting performance over the coming years depends on afforestation licences issued and these are down for the first six months of this year. Just 1,794ha afforestation licences were approved up to the end of June, compared with 2,117ha for the first six months of last year. What will help in achieving a more positive planting programme is the reserve of licence approvals under the previous forestry programme.
“In addition to the figures for this year, DAFM has processed 216 (1,747ha) applications already approved under the Forestry Programme 2014-2020 that hadn’t commenced planting and have now opted into the new Forestry Programme 2023-2027,” a DAFM spokesperson said.
Average planting size for the first six months was 7.6ha, which is similar to previous years. The trend towards non-commercial forestry is now obvious as an estimated 60% of all planting comprises broadleaves and biodiverse areas. Ideally, a forest should contain at least 10ha of conifers to be commercial. As there is a mandatory requirement to carry 35% broadleaves and open biodiverse areas, the average application should be in the region of 15ha to be a commercially viable unit.
So far this year, 135 approvals were issued for 146ha under the NTA scheme. Last year, just 97ha were planted under this well-meaning but flawed scheme, which needs reassessment in terms of its effectiveness and high administration cost.
Felling licences
Felling licences issued for 7,698ha are down not only compared with the first six months last year (11,339ha), but way below 2023 when 18,505ha were approved. Even if over half of the windblown area is licensed, it would be expected that the unlicensed area of over 5,000ha of extra licences should now be in the pipeline for application and approval.
When areas are equated to volume, 2.3 million m3 were approved for felling so far this year, compared with 3.2 million m3 last year, which is less than half the 5.0 million m3 licensed in 2023. Previous years’ licences have been well above actual harvesting and sales, which is one of the reasons the sector is confident that up to 60% of windblown timber is licensed. Farmers with windblown forests but who have a thinning licence can automatically remove all trees.
The storm has served as a reminder of the need to activate clearfell licences when the crop is ready for final harvest, rather than waiting, especially in areas where forests are vulnerable to windblow.
A "condition red" forest fire warning has been issued, which indicates that forests are at extreme risk at present.
Forest roads
Forest road licence approvals were down from 167km in 2024, to 103km up to June this year. Last year was an exceptionally good year for roading licences issued, following 2023 when licences almost came to a standstill as the new forestry programme was still being negotiated. Road licences issued for the first six months during 2021-2022 averaged 150km.
Actual road construction always lags well behind licences issued, but the 42km of roads constructed up to June this year is up by 35% on 2024 (31km), 60% over 2023 (26km) and 28% over 2022 (33km). It is probably too early to assess the increased trend in road building, but the urgency to remove timber after storms Darwin and Éowyn, may be a factor.
Other schemes
Up to June, 261 approvals were issued under the Reconstitution of Ash Dieback (RAD) scheme for an area of 838ha. Since RAD commenced there have been 1,199 approvals, representing 4,272 ha.
Under the Climate Resilient Reforestation Scheme 23 approvals were issued up to June representing 133ha. While 97 approvals were issued for 540ha under the Woodland Improvement Scheme (WIS) or 1,550ha since the scheme commenced.
In short
1,513ha planted up to June this year, more than double 2024 (716ha).Afforestation licences down from 2,117ha in 2024 to 1,794ha this year. Felling licences down from 11,339ha in 2025 to 7,698ha in 2024.Road construction up from 31km in 2024 to 42km this year.Road licences down from an average 150km to 103km.Forest fire warning
Although the “condition red” forest fire warning, issued over last weekend is no longer in force, the advice by the DAFM and forestry organisations is to remain vigilant. Weather trends would indicate that Ireland will experience very hot and dry spells in the future. Last weekend’s warning arose out of recent weather patterns, leading to extreme fire risk.
Unlike the continent, a condition red fire warning is a comparatively rare event in Ireland. The warning allows landowners and relevant authorities to take action which “may involve the mobilisation, assembly and prepositioning of resources such as water tankers, machinery, personnel and contract aviation support to high risk areas,” a DAFM spokesperson said.
“Landowners and managers should remain vigilant to all fire activity and report all suspicious activity to An Garda Síochána,” she added. “Visitors to forests and other recreational sites should cooperate with all requests regarding fire safety, obey all relevant bye-laws and be considerate in parking vehicles so as not to impede access by emergency vehicles.”
DAFM advises that fires, barbecues and other open ignition sources be avoided on forest lands and in other high risk areas during dry spells. It is an offence to cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy any vegetation growing on any land not then cultivated between 1 March and 31 August.
Forest owners and managers, as well as land managers, landowners and local authorities should implement fire patrols to exclude all fire activity from the landscape and enforce relevant fire protection legislation. While the number of forest fires has been low so far this year, 1,200ha of mainly mountain and peatland have been burned by wildfires.
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