Growing small forest

fluppet

I originally posted this in Gardening and DIY, but then I found this forum...

My house is surrounded by 45 acres of prime agricultural land, which I own. I am not a farmer, and so rent-out this land to farmers for about Eur 6,000 per year. I am interested in converting a little bit of it (perhaps about an acre) into a small forest composed of native Irish trees.

I would like to do this in order to benefit the wildlife and environment, and also for me to enjoy. I do not intend for the trees to be cut-down when they are mature.

I have looked at the Forestry Service website, and it appears that if I did this I would be eligible for a grant which should cover the planting cost, and a yearly income of about Eur 180 per hectare (1 hectare ~ 2.5 acres), which is about 60% of what I am currently earning from the land. The income would also cease after 15 years. While I am not doing this for monetary gain, I would like to know if there are any other grants/sources of income available for this small forest?

As this forest is not being planted to be felled for timber, the trees would probably be planted further apart than normal, and there might even be a small clearing or two in the middle. Do you think this would affect my grant application?

Any comments/suggestions/opinions/etc. would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Fanny Cradock

If you are talking of planting only native trees then you may be eligible for the 'native woodland scheme'.

I would think that you would have to plant to subscribed planting distances to avail of the grant. This would ensure that there are a certain number of plants per ha. Personally, I would definitely recommend a light thinning or two at some stage down the line. Why? Well, ignoring the timber quality issue, trying to walk through a forest with, say, 2500 tree pre ha would be impossible. Even if you're not interested in the forest as a timber resource I would still recommend doing this. Also, you would be able to select areas to thin out and thus give you your clearings. Finally, timber extracted during thinnings could provide a small income for you.

Contact the forest service or private forest companies such as Greenbelt for more info. You may also consider looking into courses run by Teagasc which are aimed at teaching non-foresters the basics.

The_Conductor

Further to this- there is a minimum area which must be afforested, along with drainage and fencing requirements, if you wish to claim a grant.

If the area in question is very small- it may be more worthwhile to simply seek a little informal advice from a forester rather than going down the official route. The minimum area which DAF will grant aid is 1 hectare for conifers or conifer mixtures, and .1 hectare for broadleaves.

As Fanny Cradock stated- one of the main reasons for afforestations being of a set minimum density is to try to maximise the potential quality of the trees (irrespective of whether or not you intend to fell them at some point in the future or not). If you intended to create a nice little piece of native woodland, and wanted to maximise the biodiversity potential of fauna and flora, it would require a certain amount of on-going work (i.e. thinning the trees, high pruning them, removing stems that are frost damaged or unsuitable to the area, fencing young trees so they don't get shredded by rabbits or livestock etc. etc. etc.

Native tree species will require a lot of work that would not immediately come to mind, especially to those used to commercial forestry species and operations (though that said there are several native species with important commercial possibility- Scots pine for example).

There are a few stands in different areas around the country that might be useful for you to visit in order to get an idea of how you might proceed.

S.

Fanny Cradock

smccarrick wrote:

There are a few stands in different areas around the country that might be useful for you to visit in order to get an idea of how you might proceed.

S.

Ballycurry Demesne perhaps

The_Conductor

Fanny Cradock wrote:

Ballycurry Demesne perhaps

Ye gods, are UCD are still using Ballycurry for projects?
Its 12 years since I was there.
Yes, Ballycurry would be an excellent example.
It has some very nice stands of both native and introduced species- and is an excellent way of seeing how a small forest can be managed to maximise both diversity of species and also maintain the environment in an excellent condition, even while generating an ongoing forestry income.

Fanny Cradock

12 years - wow! A few things have changed since then I reckon, but not too much.

Yeah, still at Ballycurry - with Máirtín. They'd be lost without the Tottenham brothers.

OP, if you do get a chance you should go along to Ballycurry Estate in Co Wicklow. To paraphrase smccarrick, it really has a wonderful mixture of economically viable management along with a strong emphasis towards holistic forestry. It's not just about making money. It would be fantastic if more forests were managed in this manner.

Fanny Cradock

I just noticed today that GPC 4 (that's the Grant/ Premium Category that deals with diverse mixtures) has gone up by 13.5%. The grant alone now now stands at €3,927.00 per ha.


GPCs 1-3 = increase of 14.7% (1 = unenclosed, 2= Sitka Spruce/ Lodgepole, 3 = 20% diverse mix)
GPC 4 = increase of 13.5% (4= diverse mix)
GPC 5-6 = no increase (5 = broadleaf - except oak/ beech, 6= oak)
GPC 7 = increase of 3.6% (beech)

fluppet

Thank you all very much for your replies. They were very useful, and I agree with the advice you have given.

It will probably be a few years before I get this project underway, but (if boards.ie is still going) I will let you know how it goes.

Floyd Soul

Fluppet,

Theres a book online here http://www.woodlands.co.uk/book.htm that you might find an interesting read. Good luck!

fluppet

Thanks for the link - very useful!