Senator Pippa Hackett, the Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, has launched the new Climate Resilient Reforestation Pilot Scheme.

This new support initiative is starting as a pilot scheme, providing financial assistance to forest owners who want to reforest with different objectives and improve resilience against climate challenges affecting Irish forests. The scheme aims to foster more sustainable forests capable of producing high-quality timber and delivering crucial ecosystem services, such as improving soil and water quality.

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Minister Hackett said: "The innovative Climate Resilient Reforestation Pilot Scheme aims to increase the climate resilience of the national forest estate by increasing the proportion of forest land managed under permanent forest cover. It provides a pathway to a greater species diversity, decreasing the risk from pest, disease and extreme weather events such as drought and windblow. This pilot scheme offers financial supports to current forest owners who wish to replant their forests in a different way after felling."

Forest owners can choose from three different elements in the Climate Resilient Reforestation Pilot Scheme: Reforestation for Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF), Reforestation for Native Forests and Reforestation for Biodiversity and Water.

The Minister concluded: "We look forward to engaging with forest owners on their plans for their next forest rotation and incorporating the learning from these experiences into future plans for the Scheme."