Thematic area: Policy and public goods

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While timber production was the original objective at the outset of the afforestation programme, today it is generally recognised that forests provide more than simply economic benefits to society. Social and environmental benefits, often known as public goods, have assumed an important role in the sustainable management of our forests. Through their existence, forests provide services such as employment, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, water protection and wild spaces for outdoor recreation but this contribution is often not taken into account when the economics of a forest enterprise is assessed. While we may be aware of these contributions, our understanding of these benefits, and the underlying mechanisms by which they operate, are in many cases not fully understood or quantified. The projects reported in this section are providing deeper insights into the value of forests to society and ways to account for these externalities, in addition to providing guidance for their enhancement and future development.

Research programmes and projects within this thematic area:

FOREST ECONOMICS AND POLICY - FORPOLEC
FIRMEC: Modelling the economics of forestry in Ireland
FORECON: An economic evaluation of the market and non-market functions of forestry
POLFOR : Forestry in a changing policy environment

FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE - CLI-MIT
CARBIFOR II: Carbon sequestration by Irish forest ecosystems
CARBWARE: Development of tools and systems for reporting on forest carbon stocks and stock change under the Kyoto protocol and the UNFCCC
CLIMADAPT: The use of Ecological Site Classification in adapting forests and their management to climate change
FORESTSOILC: Soil carbon stock changes and greenhouse gas fluxes in Irish forests
WOODCARB: Carbon stocks and stock changes in harvested wood products

FOREST BIODIVERSITY - PLANFORBIO
FORESTBIO: Managing for biodiversity in a range of Irish forest types
HENHARRIER: Optimum scenarios for Hen Harrier conservation in Ireland
RHODO: Achieving effective rhododendron control
FUNCTIONALBIO: Functional biodiversity in forests: diversity of soil decomposers and predatory and parasitic arthropods

FORESTS AND WATER
FORFLUX: Biogeochemistry of Irish forests
HYDROFOR: Assessment of the impacts of forest operations on the ecological quality of water
SANIFAC : Assessment and mitigation of soil and nutrient losses from acid-sensitive catchments

FORESTS AND RECREATION