Afforestation
Afforestation
Afforestation – Benefits
- Enables landowners to diversify their land use and maximise their revenue.
- Creates a stable medium-term income plus a strong long-term, tax efficient pension.
- Helps the landowner to prepare for the environmentally focused obligations within the next CAP
- Makes a real and meaningful impact to the sequestration of atmospheric carbon
- Supports Ireland’s needs to increase its percentage forest cover to help achieve our Climate Action targets.
- Planting the right tree in the right place is the key to delivering a socially acceptable, sustainable afforestation program.
Grant Aided Afforestation – Fast Facts
- To help drive afforestation the state provides financial assistance to establish, manage and maintain your forest
- This financial assistance takes the form of an exchequer funded grant and premium
- All cost involved in the establishment of your plantation are (in most cases) covered by this grant aid
- Once the land was “eligible” you can continue to draw your entitlements on the planted land
- Annual premium paid for a 15-year term
- Premium payments are exempt from income tax
- Landowner retains 100% ownership of the land and the plantation
- As your plantation grows so does the value of your asset
- Forests play a very important role in controlling the levels of Carbon in the atmosphere by sequestering and storing carbon
- A secure investment – pension
- Attractive grants (paid prior to harvesting) for building a forest road to facilitate haulage and extraction.
Afforestation Grant
An afforestation grant is paid once the plantation has been satisfactorily established. This grant amounts to 75% of the overall afforestation grant. The second instalment of the remaining 25% or maintenance grant is payable four years later, providing the plantation has been satisfactorily established and maintained.
NewGen will use this afforestation grant to cover the costs of establishing and maintaining your plantation.
Afforestation Premiums
Annual premiums are payable to the landowner and rates are dependent upon the species of tree planted. In the 2014-2020 Forestry Programme (now extended for 2021), there is no difference between farmer and non-farmer premium rates with the same amount being paid to all.
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/642e6-forestry/#grants-and-schemes
Native Woodland Establishment
Making a significant and meaningful contribution to the establishment of native woodlands is one of the key principles upon which NewGen was established.
NewGen believe that if we are to implement a truly sustainable, socially acceptable, diverse, afforestation program we need to increase the percentage of native woodlands established. NewGen is committed to elevating the percentage of native woodlands established in Ireland.
Currently, of the 11% forest cover in Ireland, less than 2% are native woodlands.
The Native Woodland Scheme is one component of the current national afforestation program.
It involves the establishment of native woodlands planted with native species like pedunculate and sessile oak, birch, alder, hazel, holly, cherry plus an array of other native species.
During the establishment of native woodlands site cultivation, potential siltation and run off, the use of chemicals and the use of fertilizer are all minimised.
All efforts are made to establish the woodland in a manner that is “closer to nature” and to avoid any potential impact on our natura 2000 sites (SAC’s and SPA’s)
Native woodlands are not managed like conifer woodland and clear felling is not a component of future harvesting.
Native Woodlands are managed under a continuous forest cover regime ensuring that forest cover is always present and that woodlands are thinned on a progressive basis but never completely felled.
This approach to forest management helps protect, soils, watercourses, our landscape, flora and fauna within the woodland.
