Following the completion by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and Coillte, of an initial satellite assessment of damage to Irish forests from Storms Darragh and Eowyn, it is now estimated that the total area blown down will be in the region of 23,625 hectares.

Speaking today, Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae said:

“While we have known from information supplied to us from forest owners and forestry companies that the damage levels were going to be well in excess of the damage from Storm Darwin, this is the first statistically valid national assessment, and I wish to thank all those who have been part of putting it together. I understand that a more detailed analysis is also underway that will give a forest-by-forest assessment with a much greater degree of accuracy.”

The assessment provides estimated figures at a national level, as well as at a provincial level. As expected, Connaught is the most affected province. There is an approximately even split between public and private forests. It is estimated that ca. 10 million cubic metres of timber has been affected, predominantly in spruce plantations older than 20 years of age. By way of comparison, in 2023, 4.3 million cubic metres of timber was harvested from Ireland’s forests.

The Forest Windblow Taskforce will meet for the third time next week, and will consider the findings of this report in the context of its ongoing assessment of the range of appropriate actions required by way of response to the scale of damage caused by Storm Eowyn.

Minister Healy-Rae said:

“The Taskforce has got off to a very good start. To date we have clarified that existing clearfelling and thinning licences can be used to deal with windblown situations immediately, as well as what needs to be done by forest owners to prioritise their licensing applications where a licence is not already to hand. We have also given guidance to forest owners around health and safety, and around the need to take careful account of advice from Teagasc and private foresters before taking any action.”

The Minister continued:

“We have organisations around the table representing forest owner groups, sawmillers, forestry companies, IFA, Teagasc, Coillte and my department. Having more than twice the annual cut on the ground represents an enormous challenge, but I have been impressed with the energy and commitment around the table to tackle every issue that this challenge presents. I would also like to repeat what I have said on numerous occasions – this is a very difficult time for forest owners, but they can be absolutely assured that they are, and will continue to be, at the centre of all of our deliberations at every meeting of the Taskforce.”

The report can be found on the DAFM website at the following link: Estimate of the Extent of Damage to Forests following Storms Darragh and Éowyn.

Notes

This initial estimate of windblown forest area is based on a sample-based approach, which was devised using the Irish National Forest Inventory’s sampling frame, in conjunction with satellite imagery analysis.

The NFI sampling frame is a systematic grid of plot locations at 2km x 2km across the entire country. This grid density represents 17,423 points nationally, with each representing an area of approximately 400 hectares.

The sampling frame provides enough forest plots to achieve a national estimate of volume, with a precision of +/- 5%, at the 95% confidence level. The associated 95% confidence interval is 17,744 to 29,950 ha, which means that, with 95% confidence, the true value is within this range.

The approach used is dependent to a large extent on Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, which has many benefits, but also some limitations (including areas with no data and cloud cover/cloud shadow). As such, there is uncertainty with this approach.

In addition to the statistical sampling, Coillte is undertaking a detailed analysis of SkySat satellite imagery to assess the true extent, and forest-by-forest footprint, of wind damage across the country. This will be finalised in April, pending successful acquisition of SkySat imagery.

‍

Source: gov.ie - Minister Healy-Rae confirms initial satellite assessment puts area of storm-damaged forests at nearly 24,000 hectares