4.8 Forests and Climate Change

Under the Paris Agreement, Ireland has committed to limiting global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels and will strive to limit temperature rise to less than 1.5 degrees.

At EU level, environmental ambition must be stepped up to meet the increased EU target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to at least 55% below 1990 levels by 2030 across all sectors of the economy. In addition, the long-term strategy of the EU aims to achieve climateneutrality by 2050 and the European Climate Law ensures that all EU policies contribute to this goal.

The European Green Deal sets the blueprint for the transitional change that is required out to 2050. To deliver on this, the European Commission has put forward a series of legislative proposals to make its policies fit for delivering the climate ambition.

The regulation for Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), the proposed revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), the Nature Restoration Law and the Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF) will all have an important part to play in meeting the ambitious roadmap towards climate neutrality. The revised LULUCF regulation sets rules for emission reductions and carbon removals in the land use sector, including forest land. As a result, Member States now have binding targets to cut emissions from land use while increasing removals.

Ireland’s LULUCF sector is currently a carbon source rather than a carbon sink. A 51% reduction in these emissions is very challenging, especially in terms of forest land, as it transitions from a sink to a source. This is due to a reduction in the level of afforestation, an increase in the level of harvest from the private forest estate, a decline in growth rates associated with age class legacy shifts and continued emissions from forests on organic soils Options to reduce emissions in forestry include increased afforestation, improved forest management and the rewetting of organic soils among others.

At national level, the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 set out the objective to achieve a ‘climate neutral economy’ within the State by the end of 2050. All parts of society and the economy have a role to play. Forests will be vital in Ireland’s effort to achieve this objective as they sequester more carbon dioxide than other land use, thereby directly reducing GHGs in the atmosphere. When they are managed sustainably for wood production, carbon continues to be stored in the harvested wood, and forests will continue to remove carbon dioxide when the trees are replanted. This ensures that the level of carbon storage is maintained over the long term.

As part of the actions to reduce emissions within the LULUCF sector, there are a number of measures in the Climate Action Plan 2023 (CAP23) related to Forestry and Harvested Wood Products (HWP). The following is a list of policies, measures and actions that are set out in CAP23:

Afforestation Incentivise an increase to annual afforestation rates from approximately 2,000 hectares per annum in 2021 and 2022 to 8,000 hectares per annum from 2023 onwards, to deliver an additional 28,000 hectares of afforestation across the first carbon budget period.

Figure from page 170

Forestry Programme 2023-2027 Launch a new Forestry Programme in 2023 focusing on the importance of climate-smart forestry and continue to support sustainable forest management (SFM) interventions across the entire forestry sector.

Coillte Estate Continue to manage the Coillte estate to increase carbon storage by managing the age profile of the forest estate to improve its carbon efficiency; expanding proactive silvicultural management of the broadleaf estate; and redesigning peatland forests to improve the carbon balance.

However, in the coming years the emissions profile of the forestry sector represents a particular challenge as it transitions from a sink to a source. This is due to a reduction in the level of afforestation, an increase in the level of harvest from the private sector, a decline in growth rates associated with age class legacy shifts and continued emissions from organic soils.

Case Study

Ireland’s Tree Volume and Carbon Calculator

The single tree volume model TreeModel got a major upgrade in December 2022. The upgraded calculator previously allowed forest owners and forest practitioners to quickly calculate the volume of a tree without having to cut it down or rely on time-consuming, destructive or expensive measurement methods.

The calculator estimates the volume of the tree using data input by the user: diameter at breast height and tree height. The sophisticated algorithm also allows users to input more detailed information such as the stump diameter or upper stem diameter to improve the accuracy. The conifer tree information used to develop the calculator was obtained from felled trees in experimental plots in Ireland from 1971 to 2006 amounting to 38,391 volume sample trees measured. While the broadleaf tree information was collected nondestructively using a remote diameter scope from 4,197 broadleaf trees across Ireland in 2013. The accuracy of the calculator has been verified through extensive testing and comparison to traditional measurement methods and has been found to be highly reliable.

The upgrades include:

Carbon stocks in the trees - The user can now calculate the carbon stocks of a tree M or stand. The inclusion of estimates of the carbon stored in the tree or stand is an important addition to the calculator, which can output three forest carbon pools. These are 1) aboveground biomass – this includes stems, bark, branches, needles, leaves and twigs, 2) belowground biomass – this includes living plant tissues located below the earth’s surface in the tree roots and 3) the total of these. All three are measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (t CO2-eq).

Forest stand estimates - The volume and carbon for a batch of trees or for a forest M plot can now be calculated by uploading a stand level spreadsheet file. Estimates can be exported for cataloguing or record keeping.

Available online - As the calculator is web-based, it means that users will always be M using the most up-to-date version and it can be accessed anywhere using a smartphone or a PC.

The calculator can provide valuable information for the sustainable management and monitoring of forests and offers to be a valuable asset for researchers, students, and anyone interested in learning about the volume or carbon dynamics of trees or forests. The calculator comes with a comprehensive user manual and sample data to get started and is available at the Tree Felling and Management.

Figure from page 172