Green Belt employs the highest quality technology to create lidar surveys of your forest and woodland. The data gathered and collected will be processed by our in house experts and presented in a readable and usable format.

Outputs are essential and informative for 

• Wind and solar companies surveying lands
• Farmers seeking data on crop yields and land performance
• Forestry growth rates and areas for attention
• Species identification and invasive species detection
• Mapping and planning activities in forests and open areas
• site management for risk profile, topographical surveys, water flow, habitat and other biodiversity measures.

We are extremely proud of our advance with our GIS experts and team. We produce detailed maps for all forestry applications appropriate to forest service guidelines.

If part of your land could not be planted due to the presence of an ESB power line. (applicable on 10kV and 38kV lines) The ESB Board will compensate you for your inability to plant these lands and this financial compensation will include a payment for;

• Loss of crop (Encasement cost)
• Loss of premium
• And reasonable costs (Solicitor fees of up €850)

 The compensation element depends on the area involved and the land valuation. (75% of the pro rata purchase price)

Plus Forest Premium Loss, this depends on the area excluded and the FT Type premium payments. (Coniferous/Broadleaf/Mixed forests).  

Green Belt is in a position to assist you in claiming this compensatory payment. 

This service involves;

• Processing a suitable map for the ESB claim.
• Processing your valuation claim.
• Calculating your claim amount.
• Collecting relevant information from the Forest Service.
• Communicating with your nominated solicitor.

 The compensation is paid to you directly as a lump sum on new or existing power lines.

If you wish to avail of this service, please contact Green Belt on Freefone 1800 200 233 or info@greenbelt.ie who will arrange for the processing of your claim.

Forest & Wild Fires

Forest fires can have a devastating effect on your prized asset. Insuring your forest is a very important aspect of your forestry management practice. Green Belt offer an opportunity to insure under their Master Policy, as provided by Dolmen insurance.

This insurance policy offers those under cover provision for Fire brigade call out, loss of earnings, replanting costs and public liability insurance. As part of your insurance cover, Green Belt's professional foresters deliver a detailed management plan of your forest. This includes a plan for harvesting and maximising the return from your forest. We also offer solutions to protect and enhance your forest and woodlands, such as fire breaks and so on.

Get in touch with our team today for your quote - please include details of your forest, ideally with a map.

Download Documents: 

Wildfires Europe

Insurance Fact Sheets

Nature Based Solutions

The future of our planet’s biodiversity and human well-being hinges on the effective and equitable management of nature and human-nature relationships. Green Belt are pioneering biodiversity focussed, Nature Based Solutions across the country. This entails 

• Gathering biodiversity baseline data,
• externally verifying the outputs and
• measuring the uplift over time. 
  
  The value of this is in the societal and environmental gain. Additionally in, from a compliance reporting metric and the intrinsic value on EU Taxonomy.

Nature Based solutions deliver robust, measured and verified biodiversity uplifts - meaning measurable gains in habitat, water quality, insect and bird life across a defined area.

Green Belt is pioneering the roll out of Biodiversity Baselining with our teams of ecologists and marine biologists. Green Belt has a number of 'live' projects in operation across the country. Excitingly we will be in a position to display these projects and related uplifts on a bespoke and unique platform.

The comprehensive output from this valuable and specific data will enable us to develop a cohesive action plan to maximise nature gains across the network of sites.

Here is a short video of the area

Included in the works are ephemeral waterways, ponds and attenuation points. These are randomly but strategically located to attract new life on site. Already, we have seen a dramatic improvement in entomological proliferation over the waterways. 

This will directly improve the water flows across the lands, mitigate and remove any leaching of nutrient off the site, using biochar and improve adjacent water courses overall quality. The introduction of ponds will also attract more insects, and subsequently birds to the site. We have already evidenced Pine Martens returning and the impact of Jays and Red Squirrels on the site through the natural regeneration of Oak trees.

However, something that will bring real joy and pleasure to the local community is the proposed public walkway. This free to use, open to the public walkway will introduce up to 4km of nature trails across the site. It will bring walkers on a journey across the varied landscape and the values and beauty of each location. It will be interactive with the ability to add details on insects and birds spotted as you walk.

Those wishing to get involved with a similar project are invited to get in touch with us and ideally come to Edgeworthstown to visit and experience the site.

Download Documents: 

Your Day in Nature

Forestry inventory gives you detailed information on the quality, volume, production and capacity of your forest and woodland. As methodologies and technology improve, the impact of the ground sourced data is exponentially upgraded.

Green Belt is active nationwide working with forest owners to evaluate their asset.

Much of this work is centered around timber production, identifying the most efficient route to market and maximising returns for forest owners.

More recently, our inventory services have assisted companies as they seek to calculate the CO2 sequestered in their forestry and woodlands. Many use this data, represented in easy to digest formats, to indicate the efforts they are taking to mitigate their scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and value/ supply chain impact. This is often referred to as double materiality.

Our team of professional foresters, highly qualified ecologists and additional scientists, utilise ground data, supported by lidar surveys, satellite imagery and international data sets to accurately Measure, Report and Verify (MRV) the findings. This is particularly useful for companies with CSRD compliance targets and other sustainability reporting framework structures.

Contact Green Belt to learn how to actively make your difference.

Forestry locations are often very suitable for hosting wind farms - individual turbines or a collection.

Green Belt has extensive experience nationally in consulting on the forestry aspects relating to wind farm development. Included in this is the assessment of the area of forestry that will be impacted by the development. For turbines to be erected a suitable and appropriate roadway needs to be constructed. Then a platform to host the turbine.

Our long term relationship with landowners and forest owners allows Green Belt opportunity to liaise and coordinate agreements on behalf of both the neighbours and the wind co's. 

Once a location has been identified, Green Belt will

• Accurately identify the effected area
• Carry out lidar surveys to assess the timber volume and topographical impact
• Sourcing replacement lands and appropriate replanting approvals.
• Planting and replanting service with maintenance contracts
• Detailed analysis of standing timber and potential and real value
• Expert management of timber harvesting and subsequent sale of timber
• Ecological surveying and reporting on sites
• High quality measurement, reporting and verification of important data

Peatland Restoration is a massive opportunity for Ireland and those seeking to proactively rehabilitate Ireland's landscape.

Ireland is home to a significant portion of Europe's peatlands. Owing to their carbon-capturing properties, peatlands have the potential to reduce national emissions by 5%. 

The best means of flood control and moderating water flow in rivers is to maintain the hydrological integrity of peat bogs. Maintaining and improving peat lands is the best way to ensure a continued supply of good quality drinking water in parts of Ireland. Conserving existing peat lands maintains existing reservoirs of fixed carbon (carbon not in the atmosphere). Encouraging inactive peat to grow again through restoration will increase the carbon stored in land ecosystems, so reducing Ireland’s carbon footprint. Conserving peat lands ensures the protection of their unique biodiversity. Protecting the ancient and cultural aspects of peat lands fosters Ireland’s sense of identity and national pride. (source - ipcc.ie)

Green Belt and our team of ecologists and practitioners, is actively reworking low yield class sites, with a high peat layer content. Our focus is to rehabilitate with a focus on biodiversity uplift. We measure carbon content, water tables and update levels and results over time.

For those interested in being active in the national  campaign to restore our Peatlands, get in touch to understand the potential projects to become involved with.

Green Belt Management plans

Forestry management plans, timber harvesting and Insurance cover are essential elements to protecting and enhancing your forestry assets. With your professional management plan, you will have a projection on the growth and volume present in your forest, and how that will look into the future. This also provides the platform to make better and more informed decisions on your forestry and woodland and plan into the future.

Green belt continues to innovate in our delivery of professional management plans - we use advanced technology to assist our field operations, and to provide you, the forest owner, with more comfort and detail in your prized asset.

Your forest is valuable, is a terrific legacy and something to be nurtured and proud of. Taking care of it, understanding it and working on it, when right to do so, is in your hands. We will help you. Green Belt will design a plan of activities to improve the value and performance of your plantation. This includes timber harvesting. Harvesting will add valuable volume to your timber, which will ultimately bring significant revenue from a clear fell harvest. A felling licence and forest road are necessary for these operations - Green Belt will apply for these on your behalf.

Ahead of this, you need to protect your investment - the best way to do this is through the Green Belt master insurance policy - an exclusive policy that many of our clients are part of, at a considerable cost saving.

A forest thrives under constant and consistent professional management. From initial establishment and seeking approval from the Forest Service, through to silvicultural maintenance with thinning and harvesting, to clearfell or continuous cover forestry, Green Belt's expert foresters are located nationally to support your forest activities.

Green Belt has developed a Four Year Forestry Management Contract which is specifically designed for farmers. The company will undertake to establish a forest for the farmer utilising the grant paid by the Forest Service. The Four Year Forestry Management Contract relieves you of all the risks in establishing your plantation and leaves you free to concentrate on your main farming activities.

The forest is maintained in optimal condition thus ensuring the plantation reaches the approved standard required to attract the appropriate grant.

Farmers who plant in association with Green Belt have the convenience and security which this contract offers. The contract includes:

• Fencing of the planted area
• Preparation of the ground
• Draining of land
• Supply and planting of trees
• Fertilising
• Vegetation Control
• Pest control
• Maintenance of woodland records

In addition, Green Belt will undertake to sell any forest it establishes, at any time if required, to one of its many Irish and foreign investors.

Professional Management for Increased Value

Professional forest management can increase the value adding potential at each stage of the forest growth. Green Belt has a comprehensive forest management package to maximise returns which includes:

• Initial site selection
• Species selection
• Provenence selection
• Seed selection
• Selection of silvicultural regime
• Thinning intensity and timing
• Genetic enhancement
• Fertilisation
• Timing of clearfell

Green Belt is proud of its heritage and history. Our mission is to provide professional forestry services, efficiently and effectively, with integrity and quality.

Our passionate, values-driven team is dedicated to growing our business while ensuring the complete satisfaction of our clients at all times.

To safeguard continuity and sustainability, our forests are economically viable, sustainably managed and planted in a socially responsible manner.

We believe that our honest and ethical approach to forestry will lead to an enhanced quality of life for our people and the communities they call home.

Timeline:

1982 - Mossie Ryan Tim O'Brien sit together and create Green Belt

1985 - The current HQ in Virginia is bought - they move out of the garage!

1986 - Disaster - our 2 clients leave the market on the same day

1986 - Success - support from Government led to investment from the US

1989 - The first afforestation grant in introduced as the Western Package

1992 - Premiums are paid for the first time for those planting

1995 - A bumper year for planting - Green Belt establishes 7,000 hectares of a 16k Ha national program

2000 - Issues in getting financial support from the government for forestry

2001 - Foot and Mouth hits Ireland

2002 - Ireland almost win the world cup (kind of)

2005 - Planting numbers are just over 10,000 hectares

2010 - Planting area starts to fall off

2012 - Green Belt grows its team of foresters

2014 - A revised forestry program is introduced with more focus on environmental impacts

2016 - Green Belt has assisted in the placing of more than €200 million into private forestry

2019 - All change with our first female CEO placed in charge - well done Imelda Connolly

2020 - COVID - Green Belt were deemed essential services so continued with our expert management

2023 - A new forestry program launched

2025 - Strom Eowyn devastates more than 10,000 hectares of forestry across Ireland

2025 - Minister Hayden appoints Michael Healy Rae to look after forestry