Forest Health and Vitality
Ireland has been collecting data and reporting on the condition of Irish forests for over 20 years through its involvement in one of the world's largest forest monitoring networks. This pan-European network (EU/ICP Forests) was established in the mid 1980s across Europe (and in Ireland) in response to concerns raised over the health of forests, evident from an observed deterioration in the condition of trees across many regions of Europe. It has evolved to address other issues of concern including forest biodiversity and climate change issues.
In tandem, several forest health and vitality processes have been initiated, most significantly the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE), the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP).
Ireland has made a commitment at Ministerial level, along with other Member States and signatory nations, to supply annual forest data from the Irish forest monitoring network, to the European Union and the United Nations to fulfil its reporting obligations under these processes.
From the beginning, the monitoring programme has been co-funded by the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, with support from the EU through European regulations Reg. (EEC) 3528/86 (1986-2002) and Reg. (EC) 2152/2003 (Forest Focus 2003-2006), and more recently through LIFE+ Funding, known as the FutMon Project (2009-2010).
The monitoring programme has been implemented in Ireland through a unique partnership between the Forest Service, Coillte (The Irish Forestry Board) and University College Dublin (Forest Ecosystem Research Group).
The FutMon Project – Further Development and Implementation of an EU-Level Forest Monitoring System (LIFE07 ENV/D/000218) marks a new phase in Irish and European forest monitoring. The project aims to develop new forest monitoring tools and to fully harmonise existing processes to provide better information about the interactive effects of climate change and air pollution on forest ecosystems across Europe
