The future of private forestry grants in Northern Ireland

摘要

The new Northern Ireland RDP was formally approved by the European Commission at the end of August 2015 and it is hoped that support measures for forestry will be announced this autumn. The key headline is the switch to a focus on larger-scale commercial planting on ground of limited agricultural productivity. Support will remain for smaller broadleaved woodlands, such as those supported in the last programme, and these environmentally-focused woodlands will be grant-aided through the new agri-environment scheme. The private forestry sector in Northern Ireland are optimistic that the new support structure will give a much needed boost to new afforestation as the amount of woodland established over recent years has dwindled to a level of about 200haper annum.