Updated information on LULUCF

Updated information on LULUCF actions to limit or reduce emissions and maintain or increase removals from activities defined under Decision 529/2013/EU

The land area of Ireland is 6.9 million hectares (2014), of which 4.4m hectares is used for agriculture and a further 0.73 million hectares for forestry. 81% of agricultural area is devoted to pasture, hay and grass silage (3.6 million hectares), 11% to rough grazing (0.5 million hectares) and 8% to crops (including cereals), fruit & horticulture production (0.36 million hectares)1 . The average land price in Ireland in 2015 was estimated to be €8,194 per acre.

Since publication of Ireland's first LULUCF action report, Irelands cereal planting has decreased by 9.5% from 306,700 hectares to 277,600 hectares. These changes are largely due to yield volatility and fluctuations in the price.

Since the previous report at the end of 2014 on Ireland's LULUCF the area afforested since 1990 has increased from 300,000 ha to 318,000 ha, funded the national Forestry Programme 2014-2020.

The current level of forest cover based on the 2nd National Forest Inventory (NFI) is 10.7%. The 3rd NFI is due for completion in 2017 and this will provide an updated forest cover estimate.

The forest industry continues to grow in Ireland the sector is responsible for approximately 12,000 jobs in the economy. Wood processing in Ireland is export-led: in 2015, exports of forest products were valued at €355 million. Wood based panels (WBP) accounted for €190 million, the balance comprising paper and sawn timber exports.

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Updated information on LULUCF actions.pdf