GOVERNMENT TARGETS for afforestation are not being met despite the capacity of the State’s forestry sector to create jobs, a report by business group Ibec has found.

The report by the Irish Forestry and Forest Products Association (IFFPA), which is affiliated to Ibec, highlights what it says is “a real Irish success story” in the timber processing industry. It has transformed itself from being a supplier to the indigenous construction sector to an export sector that ships 80 per cent of what it produces to the UK, France and new European markets.

However, the rate at which new forests are being planted is falling short of the Department of Agriculture’s targets of 10,000 hectares a year, increasing to 15,000 by 2015.

Some 8,314 hectares were planted last year, according to the report, while Government funding of €114.5 million for the sector is likely to have facilitated afforestation of between 7,500 and 8,000 hectares in 2011.

“IFFPA maintains that the Government’s target of achieving a forest cover of 17 per cent by 2030 is essential to the development of a vibrant forestry sector that will generate real benefits to the Irish economy and provide jobs, particularly in rural Ireland,” said association director Marian Byron.

Estimates contained in the report suggest that for each 15,000 hectares of forest planted, some 490 jobs would be generated for each year of an average 40-year forest rotation.

Investment in forests could create up to 7,000 jobs, on top of the 12,000 employed in the sector, claims the association.

Some 745,000 hectares are under forest – at 11 per cent of the land mass of the Republic, this is the lowest percentage of cover in the EU, where the average cover is 38 per cent.

Exports of wood products recovered last year rose 18 per cent to €286 million after a sharp decline in 2009.

“The industry has the capacity to capture more export markets once they can access timber from Irish forests that were planted 20 years ago,” said Ms Byron.

Irish timber processors achieved a 14 per cent rise in export volumes of wood-based panels last year, which accounted for €179 million of the total. Shipments of sawn timber increased 10 per cent to €63 million, while some €44 million worth of paper and paperboard products were exported, a small decline on the previous year.

Overall the value of exports in 2010, although significantly higher than 2009, remained below the 2007 and 2008 figures.

John Phelan, managing director of the Galway-based company Woodland Managers described 2010 as “a milestone year” in bringing new woodlands into production. “It is vital that we build on this success,” he said.

THE INDUSTRY IN NUMBERS

11 - percentage of land area in Ireland under forest cover, the lowest percentage in the EU.

80 - percentage of the output of Ireland’s timber processing industry that is exported.

€286m - value of exports of forest products such as wood panels and sawn timber in 2010.

800 - number of hectares destroyed by forest fires in 2010, one of the worst years on record.

Source: Irish Forestry and Forest Products Association.