A new study into the impact of afforestation in county Leitrim will be the first of its kind anywhere in the country.
This week following calls from Leitrim IFA, the national executive of the IFA confirmed it will carry out an assessment into the social, economic and environmental impacts forestry is having in the county.
Leitrim IFA says that over 18% of Leitrim’s land is now under trees – many of them sitka spruce plantations – and they are calling for no more conifer plantations to be allowed in the county.
Chairperson of the IFA in Leitrim James Gallagher says that such a study has never been carried out before:
