MORE than £3 billion of public funds is to be invested in the Irish forestry sector over the next 35 years as part of the Governments' new strategic plan for the industry, Growing for the Future.
Under the plan, which was introduced yesterday by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, the area of Irish land under afforestation will double from 8 per cent to 16 per cent.
"There are one million acres of land in this country that could produce more from forestry than agriculture," according to Mr Yates of total forestry produce the present £90 million to £1.3 billion. The value added wood products sector is expected to grow from £170 million to £780 million. Direct and indirect employment in the sector should increase by 11,000 to 27,000 over the next 25 year's, according to the plan.
About two thirds of the public funds, which will be paid in the form of grants and premium payments, will come from the European Union, while the remainder will be met by the Exchequer.
Mr Yates said the plan was driven by the need to achieve critical mass in timber output, which will require a fourfold increase in production levels.
Conifers will take up about 80 per cent of planting. Coillte, the state forestry agency, will be responsible for just under a third of all planting, with private enterprise taking the remaining two thirds.
Mr Yates said the decision to concentrate on softwoods was dictated by the industry, as this sector represented 67 per cent of the worldwide market for timber.
The plan also introduces a number of new environmental restrictions in relation to forestry. A new or add on forest of 70 hectares or more will require an environmental impact assessment, and planning permission. Projects over 25 hectares will be referred to local authorities for comment. Forests will now have to be a minimum of 120 metres back from a road, and 60 metres from the nearest house.
According to Mr Yates, Coillte would be retained in public ownership by the current Government, but added that the Government's stake "may be diluted or altered" by some future administration.
The publication of the strategic plan was welcomed by both Coillte and the Irish Forestry Industry Chain (IFIC). However, the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has warned that what it termed "blanket forestry" is threatening rural communities. "The level of forestry has already reached saturation point in some areas," according to the IFA president, Mr John Donnelly.
Mr Cyril McDermot, a farmer from Elphin, Co Roscommon, said that afforestation was a "creeping paralysis" in his area. "Once you remove the people from rural Ireland and replace them with trees, the people will never come back," he added.
Mr Donnelly said that although the forestry programme was designed to compensate farmers as part of CAP reform, blanket forestry by non farmers was causing social destruction. The IFA wants farmers to be notified if land adjacent to their holding is intended for forestry, and to be offered the chance to buy the land "before it is permanently removed from agriculture".
