Forestry levels in County Roscommon at all time high
Roscommon had the highest level of new forestry planted in the country last year.
Roscommon had the highest level of new forestry planted in the country last year. The level of forestry planted (afforestation) year-on-year in the county has fluctuated significantly over the last twenty years.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Forest Statistics Ireland report, the county had 189.5 hectares of afforestation area in 2023, the highest in Ireland. This was followed by Galway with 139 ha. These statistics include private and public afforestation.
When contacted by the Herald, the department confirmed the figures.
Of this total, 189 hectares was private afforestation, with the remaining 0.5 public afforestation. “Afforestation carried out by Coillte would be classified as public afforestation,” the spokesperson said. Most of the afforestation in the county last year was broadleaf and non farmers planted the majority of the total afforestation.
The total forest cover in county Roscommon was 31,547 hectares (12.4%) at the end of 2023. This figure is not broken down between public and private in the Annual Forest Statistics Report. However. the National Forest Inventory 2022 does provide a breakdown - 10,111 hectares (32%) are in public ownership and 21,436 hectares (68%) are in private ownership.
Nationally, Leitrim is the county with the highest percentage of forest cover (20.1%) or 32,039 ha, while Cork has the largest forest area (92,471 ha).
Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Pippa Hackett, announced the publication of the report recently.
“As an annual report, Forest Statistics Ireland 2024 is an essential publication for anybody interested in a detailed overview of our forestry sector,” she said.
“This annual report provides vital information for researchers, students and practitioners who wish to understand where the sector sits in our overall national economic picture. Clearly the pace at which we are expanding our forest estate needs to increase substantially.”
