The commencement of Forestry Environmental Report Grant payments was confirmed this past week. Pippa Hackett, Minister of State with responsibility for forestry at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), made the announcement.
She said: “I am pleased to announce the first payments of an Environment Report Grant as part of the costs of establishing a forest, recognising the cost associated with making an application. It’s a direct result of discussions with stakeholders under Project Woodland about the additional costs of preparing and submitting an afforestation application.”
The Minister also highlighted training provided to the forestry sector by the DAFM to facilitate the submission of habitat maps. The training aimed at removing additional costs to applicants of afforestation licences. She explained that, “This is all about facilitating an increasing number of afforestation applications, and ultimately more trees in the ground.”
Forestry Environmental Report Grant payments have now begun for licensed applicants and their registered forester, as well as for all processed applications made last year. The grant is weighted towards the first few hectares, with €450/ha for the first hectare; €400 for the second hectare; €350 for the third hectare; and €50/ha from 4 hectares capped at 20 hectares.