Improving Sitka Spruce has great benefits

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Improving Sitka Spruce has great benefits
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Niall Farrelly, a senior researcher with Teagasc with Walsh Scholar Ronan Cashell write about the potential that improving the Sitka spruce planting stock will result in faster growing trees that utilise resources efficiently increasing carbon sequestration and storage. The increased use of wood and greater levels of recovery of harvested wood products will play a key role to offset emissions from carbon intensive materials and maximise the contribution of forests to reducing our carbon footprint.

Their article is published on the Teagasc website, but has been copied below for ease of reference.

Sitka spruce and carbon sequestration Irish forests can provide many benefits to society, one of the most talked about recently is the role of forests in climate change mitigation. While there are usually trade-offs between production/carbon sequestration and biodiversity objectives in forests. One of the species growing in Irish forests, Sitka spruce has had more than its fair share of publicity in recent years, the benefits of this tree to society and its role in climate change mitigation are perhaps not well publicised. While Sitka spruce is the predominant species used in Irish forests, being a non-native, the species is extremely well adapted to growing in Irish conditions, it loves the rain https://www.outdoorproject.com/united-states/washington/hoh-rain-forests-big-sitka-spruce making it particularly suitable for the mild wet maritime conditions in Ireland. In fact the conditions of the pacific North-west coast of America are somewhat similar to Irish conditions, absence of extreme temperatures, mild conditions with a long growing season above 5 degrees Celsius. The species is particularly home in maritime conditions and the growth rate in Irish forests are truly exceptional, with yields being among the highest recorded for forest tree species achievable; yields of up to 34 tonnes per hectare per year of stem wood have been recorded. With over 300,000 hectares of Sitka spruce planted in Ireland all this biomass growing vigorously represents a significant carbon store, estimated to be 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (75% of the total amount of carbon stored in Irish forests).

Old growth spruce forest in the Slieve Bloom Mountains with carbon stored in tree trunks a by-product of photosynthesis.

Protection of the carbon resource and long term storage The protection of this carbon resource is critical, while some of this carbon is lost owing to disturbances, such as fire events and natural tree mortality, damaging agents could cause a serious problem if they became established in Irish forests. Insect pests and diseases could cause trees to die, resulting in carbon release to the atmosphere and forests becoming a source rather than a sink. Recent outbreaks across Europe with bark beetles https://www.reuters.com/article/us-centraleurope-environment-barkbeetle/climate-change-to-blame-as-bark-beetles-ravage-central-europes-forests-idUSKCN1S21LA and more recently the damage caused to Ash plantations in Ireland https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/forestservice/treediseases/ashdiebackchalara/ caused by the disease Hymenoscyphus fraxineus serve to illustrate the danger posed by external factors that could threaten the carbon balance in Irish forests.

The management of forests including the harvesting of timber serves a couple of important functions in the life of a forest. It allows the forests to be re-juvenated to maintain their vigour with “fresh material”, this material may be more adapted for the environmental and biotic challenges of future decades. For a carbon perspective it affords the opportunity for sequestered carbon to be stored over a longer term – safe from biotic and abiotic challenges. If the harvested wood displaces carbon intensive material in buildings or the burning of fossil fuels then you get a double whammy effect “where by the carbon emissions are offset from fossil fuels/carbon intensive materials by sequestered carbon and displaced.

Over 90% of the timber harvested in Ireland is from Sitka spruce forests and many diverse products are produced, ranging from pallets and packaging to timber fencing and construction timber http://www.mtg.ie/. These products contain stored carbon and their shelf life and continued storage depends on their end use. Products with a short life span will decay and release carbon more quickly back to the atmosphere, whereas timber used for construction purposes locks that timber away for a longer period.

Whatever the end use of the wood, the harvested forest needs to be re-newed to continue its good work to capture and store carbon. Forests need to be replanted or new forests need to be established to prevent carbon-leakage, they need to sequester additional CO2 from the atmosphere, the amount dependant on the species planted, the end use of the stored carbon and protection of the resource from damaging agents.

On the whole forest plantations are extremely important to society and an important natural resource in Ireland being a cost-effective, efficient sink for carbon and for the supply of sustainably produced products. Globally forest plantations supply over a third of the world’s timber while occupying only 7% of the land area. They play a vital role in the supply of forest products from sustainable sources, substituting timber from tropical forests assist to halt the rate of deforestation, so it is important for society to utilise sustainably produced forest products which are identified by FSC https://fsc.org/en and PEFC certification https://www.pefc.org/.

While global forest resource are becoming increasingly becoming challenged by the effects of climate change and pests and diseases, there is increasingly a realisation among forest scientists that forest reproductive material needs to be adapted to future climatic conditions and be more resilient to biotic threats. While trees evolve over millennia, those genotypes which are resistant to pests and diseases persevere to thrive, climate change necessitates that future forests are resilient so that they can continue to supply the ecosystem goods and services, including timber and carbon well into the future.

Logs from a Sitka spruce forest which will be used to produce sawlog and packaging products provide a renewable source of timber for society – plantation forests can play a role in halting illegal logging in tropical forests.

The importance of tree breeding strategies There is considerable potential to utilise tree-breeding strategies to select trees that may be more adapted to future climates or have more resilient characteristics. Significant advancements in the area of forest genetics, including the study of genetic diversity and genomic selection which has had widespread application in plants and animal breeding, with potential to provide a better understanding of the differences in the genetic makeup of populations of trees and allowing trees to be selected that are fitter for future conditions, thus ensuring that forests continue to be healthy and capable of addressing future uncertainties and challenges (e.g. https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/forestry/research/ash-resistance-to-ash-dieback/)

For Sitka spruce the most important commercial species in Ireland, a project called GenESIS featuring researchers from Teagasc, UCD, Trinity College Dublin, NUI Galway and the National Botanic Gardens, hopes to document the genetics of Sitka spruce forests in Ireland with the aim to accelerate tree-breeding efforts https://www.teagasc.ie/crops/forestry/research/genesis-project/.

Tree breeding aims to select the best trees to use as parents to produce offspring suitably adapted for deployment to Irish forests. The selection of desirable traits such as faster growth rates, straightness, and better wood properties, all of which offer the potential to increase the output of Irish forests and increase carbon efficiencies, including the increased usage of wood based products to assist long term carbon storage. In addition tree breeding can select populations or individuals that may be more adapted to future climates or have greater tolerance to insect pests or diseases. The research hopes to assess a series of Sitka spruce populations and whether they have genes that control vigour, timber quality and/or the production of substances called metabolites, which affords them increased protection from insect pests and diseases. As Sitka spruce has a wide range of over 3,000 km occurring from Alaska to California with populations isolated by physical geography; it is possible that populations may differ in their genetic makeup and may contain these valuable traits

Many of these populations are available for study in experiments planted out in the 1980s for the purpose of determining Sitka Spruce genotypes with the largest relative gains in height. Initial selection of improved genotypes occurred at 6 years into the stand rotation, and at present the stands which remain are now 28-40 years old. In this period the capacity to categorise and investigate the genetic control of complex traits such as height has increased dramatically, primarily due to advances in genotyping and genomics. Using genomic selection, the genotypes with the greatest capacity for improvement can be identified and a breeding programme with assured generational gains in average height can be implemented.

Genomic selection Advances in genotyping have led to the emergence of genomic selection (GS), a method for maximising the gain in an additive trait achieved from selective breeding. GS uses models built by estimating the effect of alleles on the trait in question, and generally are made more accurate by including more instances of allelic variation. Genomic selection has to date been successfully employed in animals, food crops and even trees, and in the context of Ireland has contributed to increased production of beef and dairy. While conifers, such as spruces, have traditionally been avoided for genomic analysis due to their large genomes in favour of species with much smaller genomes such as Eucalyptus, the advances which allow for GS also allow for the identification of alleles at densities necessary to carry out GS. With the establishment of tree orchards using material from these trials currently happening, the opportunity to use GS to inform the crosses that will give large gains in height is apparent.

Genotype data for GS is being taken from the roughly 215 genotypes from different populations of Sitka spruce some of those currently used in the Coillte breeding programme (in Ballintemple Nursery in Co. Carlow), while phenotype data (desirable traits of trees) is derived from their progeny. Potential exists to incorporate data from the experiments as they are at present which is closer to the final rotation, and as such ongoing measurements have been made on most of the remaining experimental sites.

In collecting the historical and contemporary data, the potential exists to examine whether GS can identify genotypes for future breeding that may show improvements in certain traits such as timber quality or aphid resistance, etc.

Ultimately improvements in Sitka spruce planting stock will result in faster growing trees that utilise resources efficiently increasing carbon sequestration and storage. The increased use of wood and greater levels of recovery of harvested wood products will play a key role to offset emissions from carbon intensive materials and maximise the contribution of forests to reducing our carbon footprint.

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Improving Sitka Spruce has great benefits
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Niall Farrelly, a senior researcher with Teagasc with Walsh Scholar Ronan Cashell write about the potential that improving the Sitka spruce planting stock will result in faster growing trees that util...

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Lowest planting in Tipperary for Years

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Lowest planting in Tipperary for Years
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Article by Noel Dundon, 26 Jul 2021 Email: nd@tipperarystar.ie

**Timber to remain scarce, construction materials prices rise as Dept of Agriculture struggles with two-year backlog of forestry licences ** Planting of trees in Tipperary plummeted to all time low of just 12 hectares last year compared to 1,195ha in 2001 and forestry licences are taking almost two years to process, even as a timber shortage continues to drive up prices of construction materials according to data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), the licensing body for all commercial forestry activity in the country.

Just 40 licences were issued for afforestation projects in June for the entire country, another 58 licences were issued for forest road projects, and 317 licences were granted for tree felling.

Separately, recent figures also showed that licences for 899 afforestation projects, 573 forest roads and 4,487 felling projects still await decisions from the DAFM. There remains huge concern within the industry that this current rate of issuance of licences means that, for applications already received, the department will need over 22 months to clear the afforestation backlog; 10 months for licences needed to build roads for the transport of logs; and 14 months for felling licences.

Mark McAuley, the director of Forest Industries Ireland, said that the industry wanted to highlight the massive backlog of licences that remains in the department, he said “The hugely bureaucratic approach and resulting processing times mean that the whole forest sector continues to be starved of afforestation projects and timber for the sawmills.”

“Everyone is caught up in this – from the farmers, all the way to the builders merchants, who are short of the timber they need to supply Ireland’s housebuilders. This is a two-year-old problem that isn’t going away, and it won’t go away until the department revises its approach. Growing managed forests is also one of the most effective ways of removing harmful C02 from the atmosphere especially as we have the fastest growing trees in Europe and our trees literally hoover it up as they need it to grow.”

In 2020, just over 2,400 hectares were planted, compared to over 15,000 hectares planted in 2001. Timber prices have risen sharply since the construction industry returned from lockdown, and the problem has been exacerbated by supply problems across Europe.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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Lowest planting in Tipperary for Years
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Article by Noel Dundon, 26 Jul 2021 Email: nd@tipperarystar.ie

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A T-Shirt for Petr McVerry Trust

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A T-Shirt for Petr McVerry Trust
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Green Belt recently ran a themed design competition - 'What forestry means to you.'

There were some really amazing entries into the competition but the ultimate winner, selected by Fr Peter McVerry himself has been printed and ready for sale.

Sean Daly was the creative guru behind this really wonderful design and he was delighted to be selected - "I really like to charity as it does so much good across the country, and I'm passionate about nature and forestry. I'm absolutely delighted to win." The t-shirts have been printed on Certified Organic cotton t-shirts as provided by Kokoro design. Sharon has been a great supporter and help in getting these delivered.

Peter McVerry trust Peter McVerry Trust is Ireland’s largest provider of Housing First services. Since 2020, the charity has been responsible for 61% of the services delivered under the National Housing First Implementation Plan. The Housing First model aims to provide a person sleeping rough, or someone who has been long-term homeless, with their own secure accommodation as well as access to intensive and specialised support services.

Green Belt sees a real circularity in supporting home building across the country, especially as the use of timber increases in every aspect of home construction. We have previously supported PMVT with our investment vehicle, FACT 2 which offered investors the opportunity to commit a portion of their return to PMVT.

Please make the effort to get one of these really beautiful t-shirts - perhaps for a team building event tree planting day

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Green Belt recently ran a themed design competition - 'What forestry means to you.'

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Measure the Carbon and Biodiversity in your woodland

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Ireland has a very low level of forestry. It is widely accepted that forestry is uniquely placed as one of the most effective solutions available to Ireland to meet its climate targets.

Green Belt can help you Assess the Carbon sequestered by your Forest. The European Union is developing a platform that will provide more comfort to forest owners. The calculation and valuation of the Carbon captured within your project is a very important metric. As the private forestry estate has matured across Ireland, more and more carbon is captured each year. New planting (afforestation) is the most transparent and straightforward method to significantly capture and store CO2 in the trees, soil and ultimately timber products produced from the forests and woodlands.

IMPACT The impact of investing into Irish Carbon Credits is promoting and encouraging further establishment of Irish forests. At 11% forestry cover, we are far below the European average and all activities that encourage the new planting of woodlands and forests across Ireland is to be embraced. This is a crucial step for Ireland to be engaged in to reach our target forestry cover of 18%.

Establishing a forest now and registering the afforestation project on a verified platform within the first 4 years, will secure longer term payments, extending the forest income beyond the term of the annual premiums, and bridging that gap to clearfell, or your prescribed forestry management technique.

Green Belt can accurately calculate and report on your forests growth, productivity, future revenue streams and Carbon Capturing rates. This is an invaluable tool and is essential for the long term protection of your family's assets. Simply contact us and engage with us with your forest details and we will take care of the rest. It could also be combined with our Group Insurance Scheme.

Compliance Reporting Measuring, Reporting and Verification (biodiversity, Nature MRV) of CO2 captured within your forestry and land is really valuable information. If you are trading as a private forest owner, or reporting from a corporate perspective, accurate and reliable data is critical to the virtue and integrity of your claims. Green Belt provides these professional services.

PERMANENCE Permanence is how durable the carbon benefit from an offset project is. This takes into account the risk of that benefit being reversed earlier than expected, for instance if a wildfire kills trees in a reforestation project before the end of the project's lifetime.,

ADDITIONALITY Additionality means that a project results in emissions reductions or carbon removals in addition to the ‘business as usual’ scenario which would have occurred without the project existing – so the project needed to exist for those emissions to be reduced or removed.,

FIND THE RIGHT TYPE OF PROJECT TO SUPPORT Speak to us today about developing your own offset practices, working across Ireland in local and community based projects. We have numerous, credible and valid options to explore and can work with you to create the 'best fit' for you, your company and your pocket.

Download Documents: 

PDF icon EU Emissions per Capita

Image removed. Forestry Insurance details

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Measure the Carbon and Biodiversity in your woodland
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Ireland has a very low level of forestry. It is widely accepted that forestry is uniquely placed as one of the most effective solutions available to Ireland to meet its climate targets.

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Measure the Carbon and Biodiversity in your woodland
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Forestry Management Plans

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A forest thrives under constant and consistent professional management. Post establishment 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 always been innovative in its approach to forestry and service provision to our forest owners. Our new Management Plan offerings cater for all levels and budgets.

OPTION 1 - Light - A broad overview of your plantation working with up to date satellite imagery and providing analysis on the plantation. Completed by our forestry experts with useful data and information included in the package.

OPTION 2 - Detailed - A specific and site based approach including all from option 1. This detailed plan is a detailed and accurate assessment of your plantation using both field gathered data and remote data to provide you with a full picture. The information will allow you to make an informed decision on your management practices - harvesting, road building, management strategy and so on. It also gives you a strong platform should you wish to sell your plantation.

Get in touch with us today and quote Option 1 or Option 2 with details of your plantation to receive a quote from your forester.

Green Belt completes 10 year management plans as per Forest Service Guidelines - this is a grant aided service, and sets out the management protocol for the proceeding 10 years (year 10 to  20). 

 

 

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Forestry Management Plan
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Accurate data to add value to your forest
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A forest thrives under constant and consistent professional management.

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Forestry Management Plan
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Reforestation

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Replanting is a legal obligation. Green Belt get  it done right. 
Green Belt has an excellent system for replanting to maximise the efficiency and quality of replanting operations.

However, if you wish to consider selling your land, there are buyers in the market keen to acquire lands for replanting. We will arrange this on your behalf.

We work with you to implement the replanting terms of the felling licence. Green Belt offers a range of flexible management plans to look after the replanting until it is sufficiently established.

And on top of that, we can provide access to the Green Belt Master insurance policy - peace of mind on your forest.

When you work with your local forester, you are guaranteed an excellent service and superb results. Our professional foresters have extensive experience in developing forestry and delivering the results you want.

Get in touch and we will competitively price your replanting operation.

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Reforestation
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Replanting your forest
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Replanting your forest is a legal obligation. Getting it done right can be a challenge. Green Belt has an excellent system for replanting to maximise the efficiency and quality of replanting operations.

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Reforestation - replanting your forest
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FT 1 Native Forests

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The DAFM has provided full funding to cover the costs of establishing a Native Woodland. Green Belt can source the lands on your behalf and process the application with the Forest Service.

A Native woodland offers a wonderful opportunity to create an oasis of peace, calm and reflection as well as earning you up to €1,103 per hectare for 20 years. Many are establishing these woodlands as a longer term legacy - to give something back to communities or to deliver a legacy for the next generation.

Green Belt has established more Native woodlands than any one else and our expert foresters will ensure you reach your desired outcomes. 

Green Belt is also unique in being able to offer a once off additional payment for those who plant under FT 1 - this is called the Green Belt Native Woodland support Scheme. As forest owner you receive a once off, additional payment of €1,000 per hectare. This comes without any loss of carbon or biodiversity credits.

FT1 comprises the creation of new native forest, principally to promote Native Forest biodiversity, biodiversity within the wider landscape, and other ecosystem services such as soil and water protection and landscape enhancement. Areas planted under FT1 can be managed for wood production using continuous cover forestry practices, where compatible with onsite biodiversity.

The annual premium rate for this scheme is €1,103 per hectare and is available for 20 years for farmers (and 15 years as a non farmer).

Green Belt can source and assess lands suitable for planting and complete all the necessary administration and environmental reporting necessary to achieve afforestation (planting) approval on the selected area*.

PDF icon Afforestation scheme launch FAQs from DAFM

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FT 1 Native Forests
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Establish a native woodland legacy
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FT1 comprises the creation of new native forest, principally to promote Native Forest biodiversity, biodiversity within the wider landscape, and other ecosystem services such as soil and water protection and landscape enhancement.

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FT 1 Native Forests
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Nature Based Solutions

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...Real success can only come if there is a change in our societies and in our economics and in our politics. 

Sir David Attenborough

Companies need to move aggressively in support of biodiversity. Forward-looking industries understand that continued biodiversity loss creates significant risks for their business—and that as an early mover they stand to benefit from new business opportunities and improved standing with customers and investors.

Green Belt is delivering practical solutions across Ireland to meet corporate demands - To arrest or reverse large-scale biodiversity loss, companies across value chains must transform their businesses. Addressing the corporate compliance reporting requirements including CSRD for example, disclosing their approach to nature and mitigation factors to their business. Taking into consideration the impact of double materiality, it is increasingly important to positively impact the nature and environment in which they operate.

One of 5 new ponds

Work with Green Belt to discover some of the options available to you. Our biodiversity projects have a biodiversity baseline incorporated. This has set the specifics around a suite of metrics that will benefit from improvements - such as:

  1. Soil Health
  2. Carbon content
  3. Water quality and protection
  4. carbon sequestration
  5. Habitat enhancement
  6. Amenity creation and more

 

All of this is achievable with a vision and a commitment from you. Green Belt will source suitable lands, create a framework and implement the plan. We represent the results in a very informative and interactive web based platform. This allows you to share the impacts you are influencing with your staff, clients and beyond.

Can you afford not to make this decision?

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Nature Based Solutions
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Bespoke projects to deliver your Biodiversity Net Gain
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Many individuals are doing what they can. But real success can only come if there is a change in our societies and in our economics and in our politics. 

Sir David Attenborough

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Nature Based Solutions - Biodiversity Net Gain
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Native Tree Area Scheme

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The Native Tree Area Scheme (NTA 1 & NTA 2) is a unique and novel approach that allows up to 2 hectares (5 acres) of land to be planted (afforestation) without the requirement to obtain an afforestation licence. The manual is available to download with all the details. Our experts can guide your application.

A native Hawthorn

The specifics around each of the elements - NTA 1 and NTA 2 are based on soil type and conditions. NTA 1 - Creation of Small Native Forests - Annual Premium rate is €2,206 per hectare for 10 years Supports the establishment of new native forests on farmed land thereby contributing to Ireland’s targets in relation to a wide range of environmental priorities particularly climate change and biodiversity.

 

A Native Hazel Tree

NTA 2 - Creation of Native Forests for Water Protection - Annual Premium rate is €2,284 per hectare for 10 years Creating new native forests and undisturbed water setbacks that can be used to deliver meaningful ecosystem services that protect and enhance water quality and aquatic ecosystems. The creation of these permanent, semi-natural landscape features alongside aquatic zones will protect and enhance water quality and aquatic habitats into the future. These forests also provide wider biodiversity functions by protecting and expanding existing native forests. Through the creation of these green corridors, existing native forests can be reconnected thereby addressing the negative effects of fragmentation.

 

Get in touch with your Local Forester today to see how you can earn significantly on your land and improve your biodiversity levels.

PDF icon Native Tree Area Scheme

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Native Tree Area Scheme
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Plant an area of 1 hectare
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The Native Tree Area Scheme (NTA 1 & NTA 2) is a unique and novel approach that allows up to 2 hectares (5 acres) of land to be planted (afforestation) without the requirement to obtain an afforestation licence.

PDF icon Native Tree Area Scheme

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Native Tree Area Scheme
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Selling your forest

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If you are considering selling your forest, you will want to get as much as possible for it. Green Belt will help you get the best return for your forest.

The market is strong currently, for good forestry plantations - but like any buyer and seller transaction, the better the information presented, the better the price.

Green Belt can provide you with specific and detailed information that is important to investors and purchasers. This includes a detailed inventory, drone footage and a projected cshflow on earnings based on timber volumes and accurate pricing. Inspection paths form part of the package to allow potential purchasers access to the forestry and carry out the own due diligence.

Contact us to discuss the package that suits you for your forestry sale.

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Selling your forest
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If you are considering selling your forest, you will want to get as much as possible for it. Green Belt will help you get the best return for your forest.

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Selling your forest
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