A core principle of responsible forest management is that the extent of the forest should be maintained in order to ensure its long-term sustainability. In Ireland we are well aware of the difficulties, which result from deforestation. Only 100 years ago Ireland's forest cover had diminished to only 1% of the national land area. Through a concerted effort since then a national forest resource has been rebuilt to the extent that forests now occupy about 9% of the land area of the State. Most of these forests were planted by the State and it is only in the past ten years that there has been significant farmer involvement in forestry in Ireland in marked contrast to other countries where forestry is an integral part of the farm enterprise.

Coillte owns over 445,000 hectares of land.  Since Coillte was established in 1989 and given responsibility for ownership and management of forests then owned directly by the State we have expanded our forest estate.  We have acquired 52,000 hectares and increased the estate by a further 12,000 hectares through the Farm Partnership Scheme and leases.

Coillte's Policy:

Our policy is to continue to expand the forest estate in line with Government and EU policy as set out in the Government's forestry strategy "Growing for the Future".Changes in the land market and in the regulatory regime in recent times mean that Coillte's role in contributing to the achievement of national planting targets is changing. A scarcity of forestry land and high prices combined with the company's current ineligibility for forestry premiums, mean that Coillte is not now in a position to purchase land for afforestation. Instead the company is focused on assisting farmers in investing in forestry either through participation in Coillte's Farm Forestry Partnership Scheme or by providing planting services to farmers. In this way Coillte will make its expertise available and continue to make a lasting contribution to expansion of the national forest estate.

In addition to expanding the estate Coillte remains focused on improving the quality of its forests and their management. Elsewhere on the website you will see details of initiatives taken by the company to increase the diversity of the tree species planted in its forests; conserve biological diversity; improve how forests fit into the landscape and protect archaeological remains under its stewardship.