The environmental organisation, Crann, and Woodlands of Ireland are concerned that the Government may abandon its Native Woodlands Scheme as part of cutbacks in the Forest Service.
This will result in "the loss of jobs, expertise and a potentially irreversible loss of confidence in a partnership between the commercial and environmental sector", Dr Declan Little, project manager of Woodlands of Ireland, said.
Ms Jan Alexander, founder and president of Crann, said the scheme took years to put together and any decision to abandon it would be "a very retrograde one".
The Native Woodlands Scheme grew out of the People's Millennium Forests project, which involves restoring and establishing 16 semi-natural woodlands.
The scheme was first proposed by Woodlands of Ireland, an umbrella group of organisations concerned with native woodlands and co-funded by the Heritage Council, the Forest Service and Dúchas, the Heritage Service. Ireland has one of the lowest areas of native woodland in Europe, at not more than 1.5 per cent of total land area.
The Native Woodlands Scheme aimed to reverse the trend by providing grant-aid to the public and private sector to conserve existing and plant new native wooded areas.
A 30,000-hectare target, set over a five-year period, involved work on 15,000 hectares of existing woodland and developing 15,000 hectares of new native growth. Dr Little said nurseries had been gearing up to provide stock for the scheme and jobs would go if it was abandoned.
The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources said no firm decision had been taken on the scheme. The long-term value of forestry projects was "being looked at in a tighter financial environment".
