1. Stakeholder consultation on discussion document on GHG mitigation potential within the agriculture and forest sector Portlaoise 15 May 2015 Eugene Hendrick Forest Sector Development Division Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine

2. Forests, products and people - Irelands forest policy – a renewed vision (June 2014) – available at www.agriculture.gov.iewww.agriculture.gov.ie Strategic goal To develop an internationally competitive and sustainable forest sector that provides a full range of economic, environmental and social benefits to society and which accords which accords with the Forest Europe definition of sustainable forest management Forest Policy

3. The main mitigation options within Agriculture Forestry and other land uses – AFOLU - involve one or more of three strategies: reduction / prevention of emissions to the atmosphere by conserving existing carbon pools in soils or vegetation that would otherwise be lost... sequestration — enhancing the uptake of carbon in terrestrial reservoirs, and thereby removing CO2 from the atmosphere and reducing CO2 emissions by substitution of biological products for fossil fuels or energy- intensive products Forests and climate change mitigation (IPCC Fifth Assessment Report – Chapter 11)

4. Forest sector Ireland’s forest area: 738,000 ha (2013) or ca 11% of the land area Since 1990, 300,000 ha of new forest have been established The target is to increase the area under forest from 11% to 18% by 2046

5. Programme Year 2015-2020 Scheme Type201520162017201820192020Target Afforestation 5,4405,9906,1656,2156,6156,790 37,215 NWS Establishment 450 2,700 Agro Forestry 1020254050 195 Forestry for Fibre 100200500 1,000 3,300 Total 43,410 Ireland Forestry Programme 2014-2020 http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/forestservice/forestryprogrammes2014-2020/

6. The total carbon reservoir or store in Irish forests currently exceeds one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, most of which is in the soil. (National Forest Inventory 2013) For Kyoto 1 compliance, 2008-2012 the net contribution from afforestation, reforestation and deforestation - ARD – was: 17.9 Mt (AR) – 1.6 Mt (D) =16.3 Mt CO2 (3.3 Mt CO2 per year) For Kyoto II (2013-2020) the net sink contribution of ARD is forecast to be 3.8 Mt CO2 per year – which includes harvested wood products Carbon store and sink in Irish forests

7. Forests and forests products enable more ambitious mitigation in the land use sector A key part of fossil decarbonisation to mid century and beyond As forest cover reaches 15-18% by mid-century the mitigation role of forest-based biomass and wood products is likely to increase relative to sequestration Forest establishment and forest products a part of a long term land use vision

8. Future Mitigation While afforestation levels proposed under the new programme will have little effect on the levels of carbon sequestered in the short term because forests grow relatively slowly as they establish themselves over the first five years or so, these forests will make a substantial contribution to climate change mitigation in the longer term. A planting programme of 10,000 ha will also support a sustainable harvest of 7-8 million m3 roundwood per annum into the future and consequently a sustainable contribution to climate mitigation over the long term.