In an uncertain world there is no surer place to safeguard one’s savings than in land. It can also be one of the most sustainable. We’ve had experience of this before after the Justinian Plague that spread through Europe in the mid-6th century and led to a great surge in ringfort-building in Ireland, as survivors sought the security of having their own homestead that was isolated from others and easier to protect from marauders during the ensuing famine.
The area around Mohill and the Airgíalla kingdom in Co Leitrim was hit especially hard and its legacy can be seen in the surrounding placenames: Tamlaght More, Tamlaght Beg, and Tamlaghtavally. Tamhlacht means a mass burial site for plague or famine victims. Mohill’s chief abbot St Manchán died from the plague, as did St Feichín and a few other high profile saints, presumably because they were administrating to the sick. Over a millennium and a half later you can still see the ringforts that were built as a result.
History may now be repeating itself, as, anecdotally, auctioneers are reporting that small pockets of land are selling faster than ever as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Farmland of between four and fourteen acres was always hard to shift, being too small for most farmers and too large for house sites, yet there is now an increased interest by those seeking security of food and fuel supply, and with a desire to increase the sustainability of their lives.
You could plant the land in native and broadleaf woodland recouping much of the cost of the land through grants
Once acquired, there are many things you can do with the land – the most arduous involves growing food for your family and community in an organic, sustainable way. The phenomenal advance of the Neighbourfood (neighbourfood.ie) network during the lockdown means there is now a local marketplace to sell any excess food you may produce. You could also plant the land in native and broadleaf woodland, thereby capturing significant quantities of carbon and recouping much of the cost of the land through grants.
For example, if you bought 10 acres for €50,000 and planted it with native woodland (oak, birch, holly, hazel), you would receive €24,800 to plant the trees, with an annual premium of €2,660 paid to you for the next 15 years, which amounts to €39,900, tax-free. Thus, the overall total of grants and premiums is €64,700. Admittedly, the value of land does decrease when trees are planted on it (because people don’t yet appreciate the long-term value of forested land), but nonetheless there can be few more secure investments, especially ones that have such tangible impact on biodiversity and carbon levels in the air.
The thinnings from your trees will provide you with firewood for life and you can always leave patches of land bare for growing food. After a decade, the trees ought to be established enough to allow pigs or traditional breeds of sheep or cattle graze through it, (although this is currently not permitted under the grant scheme). By year 50, your native woodland will have captured 300-400 tonnes of CO2 per hectare. On full maturity it will have captured 400-600 CO2 per hectare.
To ensure the forest becomes a sustainable long-term future resource that maximises biodiversity and carbon capture, rather than being a monoculture conifer plantation that maximises profits at the expense of nature, it’s vital you employ an ecologically-minded forester. He or she will help guide the tending of the trees over the first decade or two so that you are left with top quality trees upon maturity. A mature oak is worth €8,000 at today’s prices, and so, if your 10 acres produced 400 such trees you’d earn €3.2million – in a century or so!
