Land Use and Forestry

Land Use and Forestry

Introduction

LULUCF Targets in Climate Action Plan 2023

• Pending the finalisation of a sectoral emissions ceiling for the LULUCF sector by the end of 2023, this Climate Action Plan commits to measures and actions to achieve accelerated emissions reductions in the sector through LULUCF actions out to 2025 comprised of:
  • Forest Land: Increase our annual afforestation rates from approximately 2,000 hectares (ha) per annum in 2021 and 2022 to 8,000 ha per annum from 2023 onwards, to deliver an additional 28,000 ha of afforestation across the first carbon budget period
  • Develop, assess, and adopt as appropriate the new Forestry Programme and Coillte’s Strategic Vision
  • Promote forest management initiatives in both public and private forests to increase carbon sinks and stores
  • Cropland: Increase the use of cover crops to 25,000 ha and 35,000 ha of cereal area to incorporate straw directly into soil
  • Grassland: Improve our management for carbon sequestration of 200,000 ha of grasslands on mineral soils
  • Reduce the management intensity of grasslands on 25,000 ha of drained organic soils
  • Wetlands: Rehabilitate 33,000 ha of peatlands as part of the Bord na Móna Enhanced Decommissioning, Rehabilitation and Restoration Scheme and LIFE People and Peatlands programmes.

Phase 1 of the Land Use Review, identified the percentage area of land in public ownership in Ireland as approximately 8% and private ownership as approximately 78%, with the remaining 14% likely to be mostly in private residential ownership; and action at scale is needed across both public and private lands across many of the measures outlined above.