The Save Leitrim movement which has been established to raise concerns about how much of the county is currently under afforestation will stage another rally outside the Dail on October 10th.
The latest rally is being held to coincide with the presentation of a save Leitrim study into forestry ownership in Leitrim to the Minister of State Andrew Doyle.
This report was commissioned by Minister Doyle in February 2019 to assess the social and economic impacts of forestry in Co. Leitrim.
The study represents a “comprehensive assessment of forestry including the attitudes of people to forestry in the county”.
It has five terms of reference and makes a total of 18 key findings.
Brian Smith from the save Leitrim Group says the report still leaves a lot of questions that need answers and by staging a rally on the day it’s being handed over to Minister Doyle will hopefully keep the issue a live one.
Sitka spruce accounts for 61.3% of the total forest area, and the report also says Sitka spruce in private stands growth rates are estimated to be 20% higher than the average nationally.
However, it was noted that a key aim of Government’s forestry policy is to expand forest cover nationally from 11% currently to 18% by the year 2046.
Brian Smith says forestry in Leitrim is a major local issue. With recent government policies indicating that 440 million more trees will be planted in Ireland in the future forestry is also turning into a national issue.
He says now that close consideration has to be given to this policy and Counties like Leitrim have to aware of the long term consequences of further afforestation on a mass scale.
