Over 40 forestry licences issued last week
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) issued 41 forestry licences in the first week of June.
This marks an increase on the 36 licences granted by department officials in the previous week.
According to the latest figures, published by the department, 23 of the licences issued last week related to felling, with 13 for private forestry owners and 10 for Coillte plantations, covering over 200ha.
There were 11 licences issued for forest roads last week and a further seven for afforestation.
Forestry
Up to last Friday (June 6), DAFM had issued 384 private felling licences and 144 Coillte felling licences relating to a total of 6,474ha.
The department has received 540 applications for private felling and 171 for felling at Coillte sites so far this year.
So far this year, 210 afforestation licences have been issued for a total of 1,627ha. The department said that 176 valid afforestation licences had been submitted by June 6.
A total of 1,243ha of forestry has been planted so far this year, with the highest amount planted in April (378ha).
DAFM 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).
The data shows that 272 licences have been issued for 94km of forestry roads; 38km of roads have been constructed so far in 2025.
Licences
There have been 207 licences issued by the department so far this year for the Reconstitution of Ash Dieback Scheme, relating to 676ha.
The department has issued 17 licences for the Climate Resilient Reforestation Scheme covering 94ha.
122 licences have been approved for the NTAS (134ha), 50 for the Woodland Improvement Scheme (291ha) and 56 for the Deer Tree Shelter scheme (239ha).
Two licences have been issued for the Native Woodland Conservation Scheme this year for 17ha.
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